CHINESE scientists have folded DNA molecules in an origami-like process to make a nano “Trojan horse,” which is thinner than 1/4,000 of a hair and can release “killers” to fight cancer tumors.

Cancer cells need a lot of nutrition to multiply, but they don’t produce nutrient substances, said lead researcher Nie Guangjun, of China’s National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST).

All the blood, oxygen and energy are conveyed to cancer cells through blood vessels, so many scientists are trying to create blocks on the blood vessels feeding tumors.

Through precision control, researcher Ding Baoquan folded a single-strand DNA of a phage (a type of virus) into a rectangular sheet. Then he put four “killers” — molecules of thrombin (a clotting enzyme in blood plasma) — on the sheet and rolled them up.

At the interface, “locks” made by fragments of nucleolin protein DNA were installed, forming a tube-shaped nano “Trojan horse” or nanorobot, which is 90 nanometers long and has a diameter of 19 nanometers.

After injection, the “Trojan horse” travels through blood vessels and only tumors have the “key” to open the “locks.” Once unlocked, the killer thrombin molecules are released, attracting platelets and fibrinogen protein to form a large thrombus, or clot, in the blood vessel within hours to cut off the blood supply and “starve” the tumor to death, Nie said.

The nanorobot can be cleared out of the body after it has finished its task.

Researchers have conducted controlled experiments on more than 200 mice with melanoma, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and primary lung cancer, and found the nanorobots are effective in strangling the tumors, Nie said.

In one experiment on eight mice with melanoma, the tumors in three mice totally disappeared. The average survival life of the mice was prolonged from 20.5 days to 45 days. No metastasis was found, according to Nie.

The research began five years ago, when NCNST researchers first looked at cutting off the tumor blood supply by using DNA-based nano carriers.

Shi Quanwei, another member of the research team, said laboratory verification of the nanorobot idea has been completed, but application of the nanorobot is still a long way off. (Xinhua)