Bioconjugated Nanoparticle Disease Therapy Concept
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Bioconjugated Nanoparticle Disease Therapy Concept Maurice P. Bianchi The Boeing Company, 5301 Bolsa Avenue, Huntington Beach, CA 92647, U.S.A. ABSTRACT The concept uses nanoparticles or quantum dots (QDs) that possess a bandgap that when an electron hole pair is generated by irradiating with photons above their bandgap would emit photons with a wavelength in the far ultraviolet (UV) region from about 300 down to 180 nanometers (nm). See figure 1. 450
Ga2O3 Tb-Y2O3
400
Wavelength, nm
350 300 250 200 150
ZnO
100 3
MgZnO 3.5
4
LaPO4
4.5
5
5.5
6
6.5
Bandgap, eV
Figure 1,
Emittance Wavelength vs. Bandgap Relationship
This is the so-called germicidal ultraviolet light regime whose peak is centered at about 270 nm where all organisms (viruses, bacteria, parasites and molds) or cells that contain deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid (RNA) are susceptible to mitigation. See figure 2.
Figure 2,
UV Effectiveness Curve
It has been shown by Kohler, et al [1] that when DNA is irradiated with UV light of 272 nm in wavelength the chemical bonds of the thymine base pairs of the DNA helix
are broken and the ends dimerize resulting in the disruption of the helix shape thereby preventing it from acting as a template for the production of another cell or organism resulting in apoptosis. By using femto-second time resolved infrared spectroscopy they found that the dimer is fully formed in about 1 picosecond. In this therapy concept the nanoparticle or quantum dot would first be made biocompatible with a coating, such as dextrin, to make it compatible with the body. Then an appropriate ligand, conjugate or monoclonal antibody would be attached to the particle that would be specific for attaching to the target organism or cell and no others. In the case of cancer cells most have surface specific antigens that are unique to the cancer cell and not to normal cells for others, such as leukemic cancers, other ligands are available for conjugation. Monoclonal antibodies and other ligands have and can be made to bind to these sites and not to normal cells. The treatment then would entail injecting these bioconjugated nanoparticles that possess the appropriate bandgap into the patient. The particles that did not attach would be expelled through the patient’s renal system or gut. After an appropriate interval the patient would be irradiated with x-rays. The particles would then emit large quantities of far UV photons for every absorbed x-ray photon, The absorbed photons would disrupt the cell or organism’s DNA or RNA that it was attached to leading to apoptosis of the cell or organism. The concept was considered for the 2007 Gotham and Ira Sohn Prizes for Cancer Research. U.S. and international patents have been applied for on the concept and, currently, two cancer researchers have been offered licenses to carry out research and development on the concept for the treatment of cancer. INTRODUCTION Quantum dots (QDs) are man-made nanoparticles, typically semiconductors that usually vary from about 1
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