Scientists have over the years developed an array of drugs to fight cancer. However, the downside to most of these drugs is that while they are toxic to cancer cells they are also harmful to healthy cells.
Research still going on to find more effective treatments for cancer that come with little or no side-effects on healthy tissue. Now, researchers at the University of Georgia in the US say they may have found an unlikely ally in the fight against cancer in sodium chloride, or common table salt, in the form of nanoparticles.
Sodium chloride is essential for life, but in the wrong place, it can cause cell death. To control this, ion channels on the plasma membranes that surround our cells prevent salt from entering.
Maintaining the right balance in the cell between sodium and chloride ions outside and potassium inside drives many processes that help support a consistent cellular environment or homeostasis.
Researchers found that sodium chloride nanoparticles (SCNPs) can be exploited as a Trojan horse to deliver ions into cells and disrupt the ion homeostasis. SCNPs contain millions of sodium and chlorine atoms, but the ion channels responsible for keeping salt out do not recognize them in this form.
Consequently, SCNPs are free to enter the cell, and once inside, they dissolve, releasing sodium and chlorine ions that become trapped in the cell. These ions disrupt cellular machinery and rupture the plasma membrane. As the cell membrane breaks open, the sodium and chlorine atoms are released. This, in turn, signals an immune response and inflammation.
Using a mouse model, the scientists tested their theory. They injected SCNPs into tumors and charted their growth. They compared the growth of these tumors with those of mice in a control group who had received the same quantity of sodium chloride in a solution, rather than as nanoparticles.
The team found that the SCNPs suppressed tumor growth by 66 percent, compared with the control group. Importantly, there were no signs that the SCNPs caused damage to any of the mice’s organs.
Also, cancer cells seemed to be more susceptible to SCNPs than healthy cells, which could be as a result of cancer cells already containing higher levels of sodium to begin with, making them more vulnerable to overload.
In the second part of the study, the scientists investigated the effects of cancer cells that had already been killed by SCNPs. They injected these cells into mice and found that the animals were more resistant to developing new cancer; in other words, the cells acted as a vaccine.
This, the researchers believe is because when the SCNPs cause cancer cells to die and burst open, they spark an immune response that makes the body resistant to other cancers.
Researchers hope that SCNPs will eventually find wide applications in the treatment of bladder, prostate, liver, and head and neck cancer.
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