Australian researchers have shown how alternating magnetic fields could be used to localise the release of cancer-fighting drugs to cancer cells, limiting side effects in the rest of the body.
May Lim at the University of New South Wales, and colleagues, have devised a system where a magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticle is bound to a temperature-responsive polymer onto which drug molecules can be attached via Schiff base bonds.
A magnetic field combined with the acidic environment of cancer tissue results in rapid hydrolysis of the Schiff base bond
Interested? Read the full article at Chemistry World.
Spatial and temporal control of drug release through pH and alternating magnetic field induced breakage of Schiff base bonds
Alexander E. Dunn, Douglas J. Dunn, Alexander Macmillan, Renee Whan, Tim Stait-Gardner, William S. Price, May Lim and Cyrille Boyer
Polym. Chem., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4PY00150H
