| Project Detail |
Advancing magnetic hyperthermia for tumour metastasis treatment and smart robotics
Magnetic hyperthermia (MHT) achieves local heating by low electromagnetic radiation via power absorption by magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). MHT with MNPs is used to promote catalytic reactions in solutions and to burn primary tumours in cancer therapy. However, treatment of metastases is complicated as a result of low MNP accumulation. The EU-funded GIULIa project aims to expand MHT treatment to target metastases and probe MHT-mediated locomotion for microdevice assembling. The idea is to load MNPs on natural killer (NK) immune cells, which will deliver a high dose of magnetic materials to the metastases, merging the toxic effects of NK cell immunotherapy with MHT treatment. The projects success will advance medical applications of MNP for drug delivery, immunotherapy and microrobotics.
In magnetic hyperthermia (MHT), magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) convert magneto-energy into heat under a time-varying magnetic field. MHT with MNPs is used in catalysis to promote reactions in solution and in cancer therapy, to ‘burn’ primary tumors in clinic, e.g. Glioblastoma, upon deposition of nanoparticles at the tumor site. The power of MHT, being an externally triggered approach to produce heat, goes beyond these actual uses. In GIULIa project I will apply MHT in tasks not yet explored to target the unmet needs of treatment of metastasized tumors and address MHT-mediated locomotion. MHT treatment of cancer metastases is now not doable because of scarce MNP dose accumulation at the spreading tumor sites. In GIULIa, MNPs designed for MHT, will be loaded in/on natural killer (NK) immune cells, which, intravenously injected, will deliver as Trojan horses the right dose of magnetic materials needed for MHT to the metastases. I will aim at raising the capability of NK and CAR-NK immune cells to infiltrate and recognize the tumor. This will merge synergic toxic effects of NK cells immunotherapy with MHT-heat damage of MNPs.
Next, magnetic microdevices and their remote locomotion based on MHT-heat gradient, represent a new technological solution for delivery purposes with no tissue-depth attenuation for their actuation. Under MHT, I will explore the localization of heat spots on metallic magnetic-based heterostructures as a means to generate bubbles in a liquid and drag an ad hoc designed magnetic-microdevices to which the heterostructures are anchored. For the scale-up synthesis of metallic-magnetic heterostructures needed for the microdevices, I will merge an in-flow approach to an MHT-route synthesis. The heat at the MNP surface will be used as an in situ energy source to promote the growth of the metallic domain on the MNP. Advanced NK cells and microdevice technology of GIULIa will impact the medical fields of MNP/drug delivery, immunotherapy and smart robotics. |
