MU Has Big Plans for Tiny Particles
New MU nanomedicine institute could transform the treatment of cancer.
Nanoscientists build and test particles at the nearly unimaginable scale of a nanometer, or one billionth of a meter.
Medicine, microchips, fuels and textiles could change radically through further development of nanotechnology. Nanoscientists build and test particles at the nearly unimaginable scale of a nanometer, or one billionth of a meter. For instance, gold nanoparticles created at MU are more than 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.
The inventor of the particles, Kattesh Katti, PhD, is exploring how they could help detect prostate cancer. In March, he was joined by world-renowned cancer researcher and fellow radiology professor Frederick Hawthorne, PhD. A member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1973, Hawthorne previously served more than 35 years on the faculty at the University of California in Los Angeles.
MU's International Institute for Nano and Molecular Medicine will be headquartered in a new building near MU's Nuclear Research Reactor.
MU is investing millions of dollars to help Hawthorne develop a new International Institute for Nano and Molecular Medicine at MU. Five other MU faculty members in radiology, hematology and oncology are members, and the institute is currently recruiting others. Laboratories will be located in a new building scheduled to open in November 2007.
"I still marvel at what I found at the University of Missouri-Columbia that I have never encountered anywhere else in the world," Hawthorne said. "The campus literally has everything including a nuclear research reactor, a medical school, a veterinary medicine school and sincere people who are interested in collaborating with me. I realized Mizzou would be a place where I could fulfill my life's work, which is to find a new route for attacking cancer in a definitive way."
Element offers new biomedical applications
Boron's unique properties and potential for medicine have consumed Hawthorne's career. He is particularly interested in the element's similarity to carbon, which allows boron to form a nearly infinite number of compounds by combining with itself, carbon and other elements. But unlike the carbon compounds that form the basis of organic chemistry, Hawthorne's boron compounds remain stable and impervious to degradation in the presence of enzymes.
"Boron may be employed across the wide spectrum of biomedicine in much the same way as organic compounds, but boron offers totally new biomedical applications," Hawthorne said. "Some of the most notable applications I am developing include new agents that could greatly enhance radioimaging and radiotherapy, new drug delivery systems, and boron neutron capture therapy for treating cancer."
Boron neutron capture therapy uses the Boron-10 isotope placed in non-toxic compounds that specifically target cancer cells. The marked cancer cells are then destroyed by exposure to a neutron field. Neutrons don't harm the biological components of tissue, but they produce a localized and highly energetic reaction with Boron 10. The boron-neutron reaction is only as large as the cell in which it occurs, and the reaction can be turned on and off by removing the neutron source.
"Developing boron neutron capture therapy requires a nuclear reactor, and in my opinion MU has the finest research reactor in the world," Hawthorne said.
Other research in Hawthorne's lab involves the fascinating concept of molecular motors. When activated by electrons from light, chemicals or electrodes, the motors could provide power to nanodevices. The devices could then be used to control the functioning of cells throughout the body.
In addition to MU's Nuclear Research Reactor, which produces radioactive material for the imaging and treatment of cancer, Hawthorne also joined MU to take advantage of its Radiopharmaceutical Sciences Institute, which received a $10 million National Cancer Institute grant to establish one of the few in vivo cellular and molecular imaging centers in the nation. MU also recently established a Nanoparticles Production Core Facility (NPCF).
One of the first on-campus facilities of its kind, the NPCF produces metallic nanoparticles made especially for medical applications in a patented process. It laid the groundwork for a $3.1 million grant from the NCI, and it brought together a team of 12 researchers under Katti's leadership. The grant also earned MU the distinction of becoming one of only 12 universities selected to by the NCI to form a nationwide nanotechnology partnership.
Hawthorne foresees an enormous return on investment in the form of additional research grants, unique training opportunities for post-graduate students, and inventions that could be commercialized by Missouri companies. He's not alone in his predictions. The National Science Foundation estimates the global nanotechnology market will be worth a trillion dollars by 2015. Last year, the U.S. government allocated more than a billion dollars to nanotechnology research.