Molecular nano-spies created to aid disease detection

Stealth nano compounds have been designed by researchers at the UK’s University of Nottingham’s School of Pharmacy that will reveal their true identity only when they’ve reached their intended target.

Each spherical complex wears a sheath of biocompatible polymer that encapsulates and shrouds biologically active material inside, preventing any biological interaction so long as the shield remains in place. Because any DNA code (or ‘molecular cipher’) can be chosen to reveal the compound, the release mechanism can be bar-coded so that it is triggered by a specific biomarker – for example a message from a disease gene. What is then exposed – an active pharmaceutical compound, a molecular tag to attach to diseased tissue, or a molecular beacon to signal activation – depends on what function is needed.

Project leader Cameron Alexander said: “These types of switchable nanoparticles could be extremely versatile. As well as initial detection of a medical condition, they could be used to monitor the progress of diseases and courses of treatment, or adapted to deliver potent drugs at particular locations in a patient’s body. It might even become possible to use mobile phones rather than medical scanners to detect programmed responses from later generations of the devices.”