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Pharmaceuticals

Antibodies steer fullerenes to cancer cells

July 3, 2006 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 84, Issue 27

Rice University researchers want to add another trick to thefullerene portfolio: delivery of drug cocktails to targeted cancer cells. The idea is straightforward: Conjugate a water-soluble fullerene derivative, covalently loaded with drugs, to an antibody that specifically seeks out cancer cells. Loading drugs onto buckyballs is old hat. But targeting fullerenes precisely with antibodies is not. In a proof-of-concept experiment, Lon J. Wilson and his colleagues found that they could attach 15 copies of the derivative shown to an antibody without disrupting its ability to track down specific melanoma cells (Chem. Commun., published online June 9, dx.doi.org/10.1039/b601717g). In an unusual twist, the research team found that the fullerene derivatives associate with the antibody noncovalently and are actually embedded inside the antibody. Wilson says the surprisingly large number of fullerenes embedded in the antibody improves the possibility that a concentrated mixture of drugs and imaging agents could be deposited exactly where it is needed, keeping side effects and required quantities to a minimum.

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