Good Vibrations
Rarely do we write about biologics as they are far removed from the consumer electronics space, but we have come across an interesting bit of research that while certainly focused on cell biology, has a strong link to the materials that are used in various CE products. Before we go further, we note that what we are citing here is research level information and may or may not be followed by further research or practical use, but it certainly piqued our interest, and we thought it worthwhile to pass on the basic concepts.
Aminocyanines are a class of fluorescent dyes that have a unique characteristic. Aside from their light-related characteristics, they tend to bind to the fatty outer lining of cells (lipid bilayer). By attaching certain molecules to the aminocyanines, they can be designed to target a particular type of cell. For example, certain cancer cells overexpress biotin receptors. By attaching biotin to the aminoicyanine, they are very likely to be taken by the cancer cells or stick to the surface. This makes them valuable as markers for certain types of cancers, but new research has found that they have an additional characteristic that makes them even more valuable.
When aminocyanines are stimulated with near-infrared light the electrons in the molecule are pushed to a higher state. As the electrons fall back to their ground state they have to give off the energy they absorbed and they do that in the form of light, the same way OLED materials operate. But aminocyanines have another unusual characteristic. When irradiated by near-IR light, instead of emitting light to dissipate energy as the electrons return to ground state, the molecules vibrate. This is not just a small part of the molecule vibrating, it is the whole molecule oscillating in unison at 40 trillion oscillations/second and since the molecules are attached to the cell walls of cancer cells, the oscillations quickly ruptures the cell walls, and the cancer cells die.
Depending on the type of cancer, a number of therapeutic modalities are used to suppress and hopefully cure the cancer, each with positives and negatives. The obvious drawbacks of chemotherapy and radiation are outweighed by the necessity for such modalities for certain cancer types, but cancer cells are highly adaptable, giving them the ability to develop resistance to chemical modalities. Radiation and other heat related or beam focused therapies must be precisely targeted to avoid destroying non-cancerous tissue, and surgery is only effective if all of the cancer cells can be identified and removed, an impossible task with many cancers. The molecular ‘jackhammers’ we describe here generate no heat that can affect nearby healthy tissue and do not act chemically on the cancer cells, so no resistance can be developed, but there are some downsides.
Since these molecules bind to the cancer cells, it is imperative that those are the only cells they bind with as unbound molecules will still vibrate and potentially cause damage. The good news is that the amounts of aminocyanines needed to induce cancer cell death is very low and remains non-toxic, which means the number of unbound molecules will also be low and do little if any damage to other tissue at those concentrations. As their affinity for targeted cells causes them to concentrate on the cancer cells, that is where the damage will occur with minimal impact on blood stream components or other locations.
Near IR light has the ability to penetrate deep into the body, roughly 4”, far deeper than visible or UV light, but there are still places where the ability to irradiate the jackhammer molecules might be difficult. Fiber optics might serve as a solution in some cases but providing near IR light to stimulate the molecules is absolutely necessary.
In many cancer therapies the objective is to generate what are called radical oxygen species (ROS). By overloading the cancer cells with ROS they are killed, but ROS is a double-edged sword as at low levels ROS can actually promote cancer growth, and at very high levels they can damage non-cancerous tissue. Finding the ‘just right’ level is a complex and difficult task, especially as cancer cells are particularly adaptive when it comes to oxidation stress, so ROS makes many cancer therapies a hit or miss trial. Aminicyanine near IR therapy does not create any ROS, but one side effect of this potential therapy is that it kills cancer cells so quickly (minutes) that a number of dead cancer cell components (Uric Acid, Potassium, Calcium, Phosphates, etc.) flood the body and can overwhelm the kidneys and other organs, a condition known as tumor lysis. This is an issue for any modality that kills cancer cells en masse, but given how quickly the molecular jackhammers work, it is something that must be closely monitored.
While we are certainly not specialists in cancer therapies, we happen to notice the studies on molecular jackhammers because of their dependence on fluorescent materials and light, along with plasmons, those quasi-particles that are part of fluorescent and phosphorescent excitation. Again, this is pre-trial research and many obstacles need to be eliminated before actual therapies can be developed but given the fact that the materials are already bio-compatible, it is a rapid and very targeted therapy, and has fewer side effects than most other cancer therapies, it seems quite promising and deserves at least some attention to see how far it can be taken.
Aminocyanines are a class of fluorescent dyes that have a unique characteristic. Aside from their light-related characteristics, they tend to bind to the fatty outer lining of cells (lipid bilayer). By attaching certain molecules to the aminocyanines, they can be designed to target a particular type of cell. For example, certain cancer cells overexpress biotin receptors. By attaching biotin to the aminoicyanine, they are very likely to be taken by the cancer cells or stick to the surface. This makes them valuable as markers for certain types of cancers, but new research has found that they have an additional characteristic that makes them even more valuable.
When aminocyanines are stimulated with near-infrared light the electrons in the molecule are pushed to a higher state. As the electrons fall back to their ground state they have to give off the energy they absorbed and they do that in the form of light, the same way OLED materials operate. But aminocyanines have another unusual characteristic. When irradiated by near-IR light, instead of emitting light to dissipate energy as the electrons return to ground state, the molecules vibrate. This is not just a small part of the molecule vibrating, it is the whole molecule oscillating in unison at 40 trillion oscillations/second and since the molecules are attached to the cell walls of cancer cells, the oscillations quickly ruptures the cell walls, and the cancer cells die.
Depending on the type of cancer, a number of therapeutic modalities are used to suppress and hopefully cure the cancer, each with positives and negatives. The obvious drawbacks of chemotherapy and radiation are outweighed by the necessity for such modalities for certain cancer types, but cancer cells are highly adaptable, giving them the ability to develop resistance to chemical modalities. Radiation and other heat related or beam focused therapies must be precisely targeted to avoid destroying non-cancerous tissue, and surgery is only effective if all of the cancer cells can be identified and removed, an impossible task with many cancers. The molecular ‘jackhammers’ we describe here generate no heat that can affect nearby healthy tissue and do not act chemically on the cancer cells, so no resistance can be developed, but there are some downsides.
Since these molecules bind to the cancer cells, it is imperative that those are the only cells they bind with as unbound molecules will still vibrate and potentially cause damage. The good news is that the amounts of aminocyanines needed to induce cancer cell death is very low and remains non-toxic, which means the number of unbound molecules will also be low and do little if any damage to other tissue at those concentrations. As their affinity for targeted cells causes them to concentrate on the cancer cells, that is where the damage will occur with minimal impact on blood stream components or other locations.
Near IR light has the ability to penetrate deep into the body, roughly 4”, far deeper than visible or UV light, but there are still places where the ability to irradiate the jackhammer molecules might be difficult. Fiber optics might serve as a solution in some cases but providing near IR light to stimulate the molecules is absolutely necessary.
In many cancer therapies the objective is to generate what are called radical oxygen species (ROS). By overloading the cancer cells with ROS they are killed, but ROS is a double-edged sword as at low levels ROS can actually promote cancer growth, and at very high levels they can damage non-cancerous tissue. Finding the ‘just right’ level is a complex and difficult task, especially as cancer cells are particularly adaptive when it comes to oxidation stress, so ROS makes many cancer therapies a hit or miss trial. Aminicyanine near IR therapy does not create any ROS, but one side effect of this potential therapy is that it kills cancer cells so quickly (minutes) that a number of dead cancer cell components (Uric Acid, Potassium, Calcium, Phosphates, etc.) flood the body and can overwhelm the kidneys and other organs, a condition known as tumor lysis. This is an issue for any modality that kills cancer cells en masse, but given how quickly the molecular jackhammers work, it is something that must be closely monitored.
While we are certainly not specialists in cancer therapies, we happen to notice the studies on molecular jackhammers because of their dependence on fluorescent materials and light, along with plasmons, those quasi-particles that are part of fluorescent and phosphorescent excitation. Again, this is pre-trial research and many obstacles need to be eliminated before actual therapies can be developed but given the fact that the materials are already bio-compatible, it is a rapid and very targeted therapy, and has fewer side effects than most other cancer therapies, it seems quite promising and deserves at least some attention to see how far it can be taken.
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