Nanotechnology is a new and growing area of science and engineering concerned with the use of small scale materials. A fascinating application of such tools have been in the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours. As such, Qiaojing and colleagues have published a paper examining the use of nanotechnological tools in the prognosis of brain tumours. Although there are obstacles yet to be overcome in the use of nanomaterials to diagnose and treat brain tumours such as neurotoxicity, the future of this treatment looks promising.
Nanotechnology: A Better Diagnosis and Treatment Strategy for Brain Tumour?
Brain tumours are challenging to treat, partly because the blood-brain barrier (BBB) hinders targeted drug treatment. Patients diagnosed with aggressive brain tumours like glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) present low median survival of 15 months despite surgery with concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The poor prognosis and limited therapeutic effect have led to the exploration for an alternative intervention: nanotechnology. This paper focuses on nanotechnology-based diagnostic tools and drug delivery systems, such as multifunctioning nanoparticles that comprise an anti-cancer drug, an imaging agent and tumour specific ligands, which enhances diagnostic sensitivity and therapeutic efficacy against the malignant cells.
Green Fluorescent Protein: Its Development, Protein Engineering, and Applications in Protein Research
Green fluorescent protein (GFP), a fluorescent marker extracted from Aequorea victoria, has been a prominent tool for protein visualisation in modern biomedical research. When properly folded, it emits green fluorescence upon UV illumination. Increased understanding regarding GFP’s structure, maturation, and spectrochemical properties allows its optimisation, development of variants such as split-GFP, and protein research applications. Understanding protein localisations and protein-protein interactions can provide insights into the functions of the proteome.