DNA origami can deliver targeted cancer drugs

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

A study published in the journal ACS Nano presents evidence that DNA origami can been used to deliver cancer drugs in a targeted fashion. Researchers affiliated with the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology and the Institute of Automation at the Chinese Academy of Sciences treated cancer-carrying mice with the anti-cancer drug doxoribucin. The drug was delivered via injected DNA origami. (DNA origami is nanoscale-level folding to DNA to create two- or three-dimensional shapes; scientists are now learning to use constructed "containers" for smart drug delivery.) The researchers were able to observe the DNA distribution better in real time by tagging it with quantum dots which are visible under fluorescence imaging. 

After a 12-day observation period, the test mice treated with drugs delivered via DNA origami showed a smaller tumor volume when compared with the mice that were treated with the drug alone. This promising research indicates the efficacy of DNA origami as an effective delivery method and warrants further investigation to see if it can join nanomaterials, such as liposomes and gold nanoparticles, currently used for cancer therapeutics.