Researchers have created a nanotemplate that can help generate and identify the most potent anti-cancer macromolecules from a mixture of synthetic chemical building blocks1.
This nanotemplate is a composite of a four-stranded DNA sequence and gold-coated magnetic nanoparticles. The DNA sequence G-quadruplex or G-4 is highly expressed in cancer cells.
This opens the possibility of using biomolecules such as RNA and proteins as templates to make anticancer molecules, say researchers at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science in Kolkata, who conducted this study.
The high level of G4 in cancer cells encouraged the researchers to pick these cells as reaction vessels. The scientists, led by Jyotirmayee Dash, treated cancer cells with building blocks azide and alkyne, identified through reactions involving the magnetic nanocomposites.
Blue light-emitting macromolecules formed from the building blocks. The blue light indicated that they were formed inside the cell nuclei. The nanocomposites efficiently picked out the most potent lead macromolecule from the reaction mixture through magnetic separation.
The macromolecule and the unreacted azide and alkyne fragments inhibited the expression of oncogenes ― mutated genes that can trigger cancer. The fragments can be modified to generate specific chemical probes for intracellular targeting and imaging, the researchers say.
