Engineers from Johns Hopkins University have developed a novel optical instrument that may enhance cancer imaging. SPECTRA is a strategy that helps clinicians distinguish between locally located tumors and those that are metastatic, or have the ability to spread throughout the body. Tiny nanoprobes are used in this technique, which lights up when binding to aggressive cancer cells. The research was published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
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Our findings show that SPECTRA has huge potential for cancer detection and imaging. We are giving clinicians a more powerful tool that can find cancer cells earlier and more precisely than ever before.
Ishan Barman, Professor and Team Leader, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Whiting School of Engineering
SPECTRA is scalable and more economical than existing techniques because it uses a unique combination of DNA origami, which involves folding DNA into precise shapes like the Japanese paper folding technique, and Raman spectroscopy, which uses the scattering of laser light to provide detailed information about molecular vibrations.
The researchers created precisely ordered plasmonic nanoparticles, cancer-targeting DNA sequences, and Raman reporters molecules that emit a strong signal when evaluated using Raman spectroscopy using the folded DNA as a framework. Then, cancer cells were used to evaluate these multipurpose nanoprobes.
The team discovered that SPECTRA successfully and consistently bound to metastatic prostate cancer DU145 cells and even distinguished between those and non-metastatic cells, in contrast to CT or MRI scans that can show the presence of a tumor but not the precise molecular signatures that can notify doctors of current or impending metastasis.
The researchers chose a Raman reporter to aid clinicians in more accurately pinpointing sickness. This signaling molecule produces an active and distinct signal in a range that makes it stand out clearly against the background of normal tissue.
It is a smart design that gives high enhancement to the Raman signal, and it is uniform. It can distinguish aggressive cancer cells from non-aggressive based on the intensity of the signal. In a tumor, if 10% of the cells are aggressive and 90% are non-aggressive, the 10% will light up and give a very high signal.
Swati Tanwar, Postdoctoral Fellow and Team Member, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Whiting School of Engineering
According to Tanwar, every DNA strand in the origami scaffold has a distinct sequence and has a designated place inside the folded origami nanostructure. This careful planning allowed the multifunctional SPECTRA nanoprobe to be created.
Raman spectroscopy is a molecular fingerprinting tool. Molecules can look similar at a distance, but using Raman spectroscopy they show different peaks and signals throughout the entire spectrum.
Lintong Wu, PhD Student and Team Member, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Whiting School of Engineering
Journal Reference:
Wu, L., et al. (2024) DNA Origami‐Engineered Plasmonic Nanoprobes for Targeted Cancer Imaging. Advanced Functional Materials. doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202309929.