Russian scientists have created the nanobot to fight tumors – Russian Newspaper

For the first time in recent years, an article prepared by the only Russian authors, published in one of the most cited scientific journals Nature Nanotechnology. But perhaps the most surprising is that in the list of authors 4 first is the name of a junior researcher at the Institute of General Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences Maxim Nikitin. Nikitin, 27 years old, he Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, recently defended his thesis.

What is the essence of the work, which hit the pages of such a prestigious magazine? It is dedicated to one of the most important medical topics last time – “magic bullet.” It comes to delivering drugs directly to the patient area. So loud the words in the title are not accidental. Scientists are unanimous: this method – the coming revolution in medicine. After all, such a remedy is not spent on the road, does not harm healthy cells. This allows many times lower dose and side effects. Such a method is particularly relevant in oncology, because chemotherapy “has” the same, not only in tumors but also in normal tissues.

– The idea of ​​a “magic bullet” expressed the founder of chemotherapy Paul Ehrlich, – said Maxim Nikitin. – But it is ideal even fantasy, the reality is much more complicated. The reason – the very mechanism to combat tumors. The doctor’s task – to deliver the drug to the tumor agents that have to kill her. However, they can recognize that they are not to healthy cells, namely patients? You can use markers, which are available on the tumor cells.

And then, apparently, it’s simple. It is necessary to create a nanoparticle with any medicine, hang on her antibodies and run in the patient’s blood. A particle moving, retrieves markers associated with them, and begins to fight the tumor. However, in reality everything is a little different. Nanoparticles often miss, fly past and fall into healthy cells. Why? “Typically, such markers are not specific, they may” sit “on the patient as a cage, and on healthy – explains Nikitin. – But the diseased cell are many more. On the other hand, healthy cells in the body longer than that of patients and they take the number. Gone cure purpose “.

Nikitin and his co-authors have proposed seems to be an obvious way out: it is necessary to give additional information about the nanoparticle tumor, or other disease outbreaks, to reduce the likelihood of a slip. And this information is in the body – it signals that report that in such a place that is not in order. Such alarms SOS used by the cells of the body, the defenders to find the disaster area. Scientists have figured out how to teach nanoparticles carrying drugs, to recognize and analyze alarms. This will tip-off of such signals to target drugs at the target, not spending it on the way.

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– Our nanoparticle – a kind of nanorobot, which itself can decide whether you want it to interact with the cell or to pass – said Nikitin. – It has its own logic, which resembles a conventional computer logic functions “and”, “or”, “yes” or “no.” For example, the nanoparticles can be programmed so that they started to attack the tumor only when the input is simultaneously fixed two alarm signal. If this duo is not, the nanoparticles do not “shoot”. Depending on how that should be treated, for the nanorobot can create different versions of logic.

It should be noted that this breakthrough work, which so interested the editors of the prestigious journal, was dismissed by experts of the Russian Science Foundation. “We filed this work for the competition, trying to win a grant, but two reviews of the three were very low points,” – said Maxim Nikitin correspondent “RG”. Generally this work an unusual story. According to Nikitin, he intended to go to the West and make work about two months, as already presented, which is necessary to carry out experiments. But he decided to stay in Russia and see how much time it will require. “I decided, while the young, once I take a chance and try to change something in our science – said Nikitin. – Worked 70-80 hours a week with one day off a month, but moved up to 6 times slower than it could on west. reason for the delay is one – slow speed of delivery to Russia of reagents for research “.

The scientists in the West are not aware of this problem, our encounter it constantly. Three years ago, Nikitin said this at a meeting with Dmitry Medvedev, when he participated in a “round table”. Understood that in the context of requests by leading scientists from around the world view of a graduate student Phystech unlikely to be taken into account. Hence his decision: do something that falls out of the picture of the Russian scientific life.

– I’ve noticed that lately almost all of Russia’s experimental work in the best journals published together with those who work in the West – said Nikitin. – Decided to try to do the work, worthy of the best magazines of the world entirely in Russian, without the participation of the West. Go all the way torment, when you are constantly a problem when there is no tool for research, and you have contrives to somehow get it. Lagging six times – it is not permissible in many modern scientific race.

The scientists have already tested nanorobot cell cultures, in the long term animal experiments. By scientists at the new methods were patented in Russia. Already submitted applications for international.