Researchers from the chemistry and biology programs of NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) have studied a group of molecules and its combined abilities to combat the illness.
The molecular hybrid of the five metal-organic hybrid knotted molecules – named metal-organic trefoil knots or M-TKs – is said to be capable of delivering metals to cancer cells.
This makes the property a potential new anti-cancer agent.
The study and test showed that the M-TKs when internalised by a cancer cell triggers a biological activity that the cancer cell cannot handle and resist thus resulting to its death.
“The cytotoxicity and wide scope for structural variation of M-TKs indicate the potential of synthetic metal-organic knots as a new field of chemical space for pharmaceutical design and development,” said NYUAD research scientist Farah Benyettou.
“There is significant promise for developing new cancer therapies that can complement the existing chemotherapy options that are currently used to treat nearly half of all cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.”
Further tests, however, will be done by the researchers to know more about the molecules’ properties and characters.
While we certainly have a long way to fully see this latest discovery’s potential, there’s no denying that this is an amazing development, which hopefully could save lives in the future.
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