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Aug 24, 2010
Researchers in Taiwan have manipulated nanodiamond (ND), a carbon nanomaterial, to covalently link paclitaxel for cancer drug delivery and therapy. Paclitaxel was bound to the surface of 3–5 nm sized ND through a succession of chemical modifications. The ND-paclitaxel conjugation was measured by atomic force microscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and confirmed with infrared spectroscopy by the detection of deuterated paclitaxel.
The team from National Chiao-Tung University and National Dong-Hwa University found that ND-paclitaxel significantly reduced the size of tumours when the material was delivered to human lung carcinoma cells in xenograft SCID mice. However, ND alone did not alter the tumorigenesis of the lung cancer cells.
A full description of the study can be found in the journal Nanotechnology.
The study was conducted by research teams from the Department of Biological Science and Technology at National Chiao-Tung University and the Departments of Physics and Chemistry at National Dong-Hwa University in Taiwan. Kuang-Kai Liu is a PhD student in biological science and technology at the University of Chiao-Tung. He performed the confocal microscope experiments and the biological activities analysis. Prof. Jui-I Chao is head of the Molecular Anticancer Laboratory in Chiao-Tung and guided this study. Prof. Chia-Liang Cheng is leader at the Infrared Spectroscopy and Surface and Condensed Matter Physics group at the University of Dong-Hwa. Dr Chinpiao Chen is a professor of chemistry at Dong-Hwa. Dr Chen's Lab provided surface modifications of ND and drug conjugations.
