Ultra-sensitive molecular thermometers for medicine

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• Cancer therapy
• Molecular oncology

2021: Creation of ultra-sensitive molecular thermometers

Super sensitive molecular thermometers for medicine created - rossiyskoFinnish a team of scientists with the participation of specialists of the National Research Technological University MISiS (NITU MISiS). According to the authors, the development will increase the accuracy and effectiveness of therapy for various tumors. This was announced to NITU MISiS by Zdrav.Expert on March 25, 2021.

Some promising methods of treating tumors - for example, photodynamic and photothermal therapies in which tumor cells are exposed to heat - require accurate regular measurement of the temperature of living systems at the level of individual molecules.

For example, in photodynamic therapy, the tumor is irradiated with a laser to activate a pre-administered drug, resulting in heating of the tumor tissue. However, to obtain a therapeutic response, the tumor can be heated to 42-45 degrees: with a further increase in temperature, the folding of proteins and damage to neighboring healthy tissues will begin.

Theoretical calculations and existing thermometers, according to scientists, are very inconvenient and do not provide high measurement accuracy. Solving this problem, a team of specialists with the participation of scientists of NITU MISiS synthesized substances that can work as ultra-precise thermometers at the molecular level.

A - Исследование накопления водных растворов порфиринов TSPH2 и MPyPP(OH)2 в клетках colon carcinomas human HCT-116. Distribution of MPyPP (OH) 2 in: B cells of human breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7; Human colon carcinoma C cells HCT-116. Photo: sciencedirect.com

Molecular thermometers are a class of substances whose optical characteristics change along with temperature. We synthesized two such substances and studied their luminescent properties. When heated, the spectrum of their emission and the "lifetime" of fluorescence changes - this is enough to record changes in temperature with an accuracy of 0.1 degrees. The temperature reading takes place on the same equipment used to irradiate the administered drug, said the expert of the laboratory "Biomedical nanomaterials" NITU "MISiS" Roman Akasov.

Synthesized substances belong to a well-studied class of water-soluble porphyrins, and, according to the authors of the study, differ from other molecular thermometers in the simplicity of synthesis and modification. In the body, porphyrins are part of the non-protein part of the hemoglobin molecule.

Assessing the toxicity of the obtained thermometers, scientists found that one of the compounds when irradiated with a laser becomes sufficiently poisonous to body tissues. According to the authors, such a combination will allow using the substance not only as a molecular thermometer, but also as a full-fledged photodynamic drug with built-in thermometry, capable of fighting tumor cells.

The study was attended by scientists from St. Petersburg State University, the A. N. Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the N.S. Kurnakov Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Lappeenrant Technological University (Finland), NITU MISiS, the First Moscow SecSecSechenov Moscow State State University.

The immediate task of scientists is a detailed study of the photophysical properties of the obtained porphyrins during long-term radiation during photodynamic therapy. The scientific team also plans to continue the search for new combined drugs.