In one of its kind research work, some scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology in Roorkee have developed fluorescent carbon nano-dots that can serve as 'theranostic' (therapeutic + diagnostic) agents for cancer. These nanosized (10-9 meter) carbon materials have been extracted from the leaves of the rosy periwinkle plant. Their work, supported by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, has recently been published in the Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces Journal.
The identification of cancer cells and their inhibition/destruction have been continuing challenges in the field of oncology and cancer drug research for many decades. In the past few years, nanotechnology has emerged as one of the promising areas in cancer diagnostics and treatment and nanomaterials — materials having dimensions in the nanometre (10-9 m) range — are being increasingly studied as agents in molecular tumour imaging, molecular diagnosis and targeted therapy.
The team led by Dr Gopinath has synthesized carbon nanodots by heating the leaves of Catharanthus roseus, commonly called rosy periwinkle and Vinca rosea, in a process called "hydrothermal reaction". The nanodots were found to exhibit strong fluorescence, which makes them suited for diagnostic functions, while also mediating anti-cancer activity, as was seen from in vitro studies. When fibroblast cells of a mouse were incubated in the presence of carbon nanodot suspensions for a few hours, the cells exhibited fluorescence, which showed that the carbon dots had entered the cells.
"Such events of real-time image-guided anticancer therapy by a single system open a new paradigm in the field of anticancer therapy. With these nanomaterials, we can identify the cancer cells and track them by an imaging system simultaneously as the cells themselves are being eradicated in a precise 'surgical strike," said Dr P Gopinath.
Post the observations, Dr Gopinath and his team are planning next stage animal studies for further evaluation of these nanomaterials in oncological applications, for both diagnostics and treatment and concurrently studying the factors that would affect the performance and use of carbon nanodots in cancer theranostics.
