Nanobubbles ‘Jackhammer’ Cancer

Using lasers and nanoparticles, scientists at Rice University discovered a new technique for singling out individual diseased cells and destroying them with tiny explosions.

The scientists used lasers to make ‘nanobubbles’ by zapping gold nanoparticles inside cells. In tests on cancer cells, they found they could tune the lasers to create either small, bright bubbles that were visible but harmless or large bubbles that burst the cells.

“Single-cell targeting is one of the most touted advantages of nanomedicine, and our approach delivers on that promise with a localized effect inside an individual cell,” said Rice physicist Dmitri Lapotko, the lead researcher on the project. “The idea is to spot and treat unhealthy cells early, before a disease progresses to the point of making people extremely ill.”

In laboratory studies, a team led by physicist Dmitri Lapotko (right) found they could blast right through the deposits that block arteries. Gold nanoparticles were sprayed on the plaque and illuminated with a laser from above, creating nanobubbles. In tests on cancer cells, they found they could tune the lasers to create either small, bright bubbles that were visible but harmless or large bubbles that burst the cells. (Courtesy: Rice University)

Nanobubbles are created when gold nanoparticles are struck by short laser pulses. The short-lived bubbles are very bright and can be made smaller or larger by varying the power of the laser. Because they are visible under a microscope, nanobubbles can be used to either diagnose sick cells or to track the explosions that are destroying them.

In laboratory studies published last year, Lapotko and colleagues at the Laboratory for Laser Cytotechnologies at the A.V. Lykov Heat and Mass Transfer Institute in Minsk, Belarus, applied nanobubbles to arterial plaque. They found that they could blast right through the deposits that block arteries.

“The bubbles work like a jackhammer,” Lapotko said.

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