A new study highlights the potential of vibrations of certain molecules, induced by infrared light, to eradicate cancer cells.
- US researchers say they have discovered a way to destroy cancer cells using the ability of certain molecules to vibrate strongly when stimulated by near-infrared light.
- These “molecular jackhammers”, as they are called by the scientific team, are “more than a million times faster in their mechanical movement” than already existing molecular motors.
- Another advantage is that they can be activated with near-infrared light rather than visible light. Near-infrared light can penetrate much deeper into the body than visible light, and thus access organs or bones without damaging tissue.
“99% effective against cancer cells.” Researchers at Rice University in Houston (United States) say they have found a new way to destroy cancer cells by making certain molecules vibrate using a light stimulus. Their work, which opens new therapeutic avenues, was published in the journal Natural Chemistry.
Cancer: an effective method against human melanoma cells
In the laboratory, scientists found that the atoms of aminocyanine molecules, a class of synthetic dyes used for medical imaging, can vibrate in unison when stimulated by near-infrared light. Which causes the cell membrane of cancer cells to rupture. The method had, according to them, “99% effective against laboratory cultures of human melanoma cells”, And “Half of mice with melanoma tumors were cancer-free after treatment.”
These “molecular jackhammers”as named by the research team, are “more than a million times faster in their mechanical movement than the already existing molecular motors”which always rotate in the same direction to pierce the outer membrane of infectious bacteria, cancer cells and recalcitrant fungi.
Molecular vibrations to tear the membrane of cancer cells
Another advantage, “they can be activated with near-infrared light rather than visible light”explains chemist James Tour, lead author of the research, in a communicated. “Near infrared light can penetrate much deeper into the human body (approximately 10 cm) than visible light (0.5 cm), and thus access organs or bones without damaging the tissues”he recalls.
“This is a huge breakthrough, because it’s another explanation of how these molecules can work, notes researcher Ciceron Ayala-Orozco, who participated in the study. This is the first time that the vibrations of atoms in unison have been used in this way to excite the entire molecule and actually produce a mechanical action aimed at a particular goal – in this case, tearing the membrane of cancer cells. “
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