At the University of California – Los Angeles, a war on cancer has been waged on a nano-sized scale. Successful research has taken place at the Nano Machine Center in the California Nanosystems Institute to develop a nanomachine, which captures and stores anticancer drugs and then releases them when exposed to light.

More affectionately known as the “nanoimpeller,” the machine operates inside a living cell. Its novel in both proportion and the fact that it is the first-light powered one at that.

For a while now, researchers have attempted to create and simulate nanomechanical systems that are sensitive to stimuli. One precise application is drug delivery. But for this particular project, the system must contain a photo-activated moving component and a compatible container.

What the researchers used for this was a mesoporous silica nanoparticle that was coated with pores on the inside using azobenzene. Azobenzene oscillates between two different conformations based on light exposure. The most concluding part of using these materials was that they worked human cancer cells in vitro. When light was directed at the particles, the nanoimpeller automatically released the stored anti-cancer drugs.

The experiment worked in several different types of human cancer cells, including colon and pancreatic cancer cells. Just like this, the materials are pretty flexible. For instance, the pores can be loaded with cargo molecules. These could be dyes or anticancer drugs as used in the experiment. They display a wagging motion (not unlike the bee dance), and consequently escape the pores and attack the cell.

The researchers have published their results in Small using confocal microscopic images displaying the impeller operation. The pores of the particles can be loaded with cargo molecules, such as dyes or anticancer drugs. In response to light exposure, a wagging motion occurs, causing the cargo molecules to escape from the pores and attack the cell. These were regulated by the intensity of the light, the excitation time and the specific wavelength.

In relation to the studies, one of the researchers was quoted in Science Daily as saying, “This system has potential applications for precise drug delivery and might be the next generation for novel platform for the treatment of cancers such as colon and stomach cancer. The fact that one can operate the mechanism by remote control means that one can administer repeated small-dosage releases to achieve greater control of the drug’s effect.”

The research represents an exciting moment in nanotechnology and cancer. Tumor growth can now be actually inhibited. What remains to be seen is whether the technology can be universally applied to more diseases.