Burnham Institute for Medical Research researchers have developed nanoparticles that home in on tumors and bind to their blood vessels, and then attract more nanoparticles to the tumor target.

They demonstrated that the homing nanoparticle could be used to deliver a “payload” of an imaging compound, and in the process act as a clotting agent, obstructing as much as 20 percent of the tumor blood vessels to inhibit growth.

The system uses the CREKA peptide, which recognizes clotted blood (present in the lining of tumor vessels but not in vessels of normal tissues) coupled to superparamagnetic amino dextran-coated iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles to give them a tumor-homing function. They also enhanced imaging functionality by making them fluorescent.

Source: Burnham Institute for Medical Research