MIT Develops Nanotubes For Cancer Detection

MIT engineers have developed carbon nanotubes into sensors for cancer drugs and other DNA-damaging agents inside living cells.

Such sensors could be used to monitor chemotherapy patients to ensure the drugs are effectively battling tumors. Many chemotherapy drugs are powerful DNA disruptors that can cause serious side effects, so it is important to ensure that the drugs are reaching their intended targets.

The sensor can detect DNA-alkylating agents, a class that includes cisplatin, and oxidizing agents such as hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals.

The sensor can pinpoint the exact location of molecules inside cells, and for hydrogen peroxide, it can detect a single molecule.

Carbon nanotubes fluoresce in near-infrared light, while human tissue does not, making it easier to see the nanotubes light up.

Each nanotube is coated with DNA, which binds them to DNA-damaging agents present in the cell. That interaction between the DNA and DNA disruptor changes the intensity and/or wavelength of the fluorescent light emitted by the nanotube. The agents produce different signatures that can be used to identify them.

Because they are coated in DNA, these nanotube sensors are safe for injection in living cells.

In future studies, researchers plan to use the sensors to study the effects of various antioxidants, such as the compounds in green tea, and learn how to use toxic chemotherapy drugs more effectively.