{"id":2014862,"date":"2019-03-21T13:26:42","date_gmt":"2019-03-21T17:26:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.futurity.org\/?p=2014862"},"modified":"2019-03-21T13:26:42","modified_gmt":"2019-03-21T17:26:42","slug":"cancer-protein-micelle-theranostic-2014862","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.futurity.org\/cancer-protein-micelle-theranostic-2014862\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineered protein delivers drugs while MRI tracks it"},"content":{"rendered":"
Researchers have created nanoscale protein micelles capable of delivering chemotherapeutic drugs while scientists track it with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).<\/p>\n
The innovation falls into the category of “theranostics,” meaning that it combines diagnostic capability and drug delivery, allowing researchers to administer therapy while also non-invasively monitoring the therapeutic progress and drastically reducing the need for surgical intervention.<\/p>\n
“Think of the analogy of a missile aimed at a target, with the chemotherapeutic drug as the missile and the cancer cells as the target. It’s not enough to aim blindly; you need to carefully track the missile’s progress and determine to what extent it is effective,” says Jin Kim Montclare, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the Tandon School of Engineering at New York University.<\/p>\n