Researchers at the St. Petersburg Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SPC RAS) and St. Petersburg State University have learned how to target the delivery of drugs curing the skin diseases by quantum dots. The specificity of the therapeutic compound is that its biological activity is triggered by a laser. The proposed method has been successfully demonstrated through laboratory models. The results of the study were published in the scientific journal Nanomaterials.
Today, one of the most promising alternative in conventional pharmacological therapy of various dangerous diseases (for example, cancer, myocardial infarction, Alzheimer's disease, etc.) is the targeted medicine’s delivery. The presented approach ensures the delivery of medications to a given area of the body, a separate organ and even a cell by biotechnological products, like nanoscale capsules and particles.
At that, due to the relatively high accuracy, the targeted delivery allows to quantitatively reduce the dose of medicines required for treatment, and in the case of toxic medications, reduce the overall burden on the body.
“Our research group for many years has been engaged in the synthesis of phosphonates, compounds able to change their biological activity under the laser impact. In this study, we decided to investigate whether targeted delivery of similar substances used to cure the skin diseases is possible. We used quantum dots as a delivery platform,” tells Anastasia Egorova, Senior Researcher of the Laboratory of Full–scale Ecological and Chemical Research at SPC RAS.
Quantum dots are nanoscale (a nanometer is a millionth of a millimeter) particles consisting of special semiconductor materials. The advantage of such objects is their high brightness and photostability, so they shine for a long time and do not "burn out" when compared with other nanoparticles. Besides, quantum dots are easy to control, since their properties directly depend on their size, that is, by changing their size, their characteristics can be changed. Due to this fact, quantum dots are used in electronics (displays, lamps), and their high controllability allows for considering them as a potential platform for targeted therapy and medical diagnostics. The high importance of the discovery of quantum dots, as well as methods for their production, was bestowed the Nobel Prize in Chemisty in 2023.
In the research done by the scientists of SPC RAS, quantum dots synthesized by scientists from Moscow State University were used. To start with, the researchers have developed methods for attaching phosphonates to the dots. The resulting medication was successfully introduced into the local skin area of a natural model object, its role was played by an ordinary chicken breast. Then the activity of the medication was “triggered” by a laser radiation.
“This experiment demonstrated the success of the targeted delivery, as well as showed that quantum dots successfully coped with the role of transport agents; they possess low toxicity in relation to the model object. The biological activity of the medicinal substance that was used in our work consists in blocking the enzymes that affect the development of skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, etc.,” explains Anastasia Egorova.
Here considered study is a part of the SPC RAS researchers’ work on the development of methods for the synthesis and use of medicinal compounds whose activity can be controlled by a laser. In particular, earlier the experts proposed a new more effective method for the synthesis of such substances.
This study involved scientists of SPC RAS, Moscow State University, St. Petersburg State University and St. Petersburg State Technical University (TU). The project was supported by the RSF Grant (No. 22-13-00082).