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A Drug‐Free Tumor Therapy Strategy: Cancer‐Cell‐Targeting Calcification
Author(s) -
Zhao Ruibo,
Wang Ben,
Yang Xinyan,
Xiao Yun,
Wang Xiaoyu,
Shao Changyu,
Tang Ruikang
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201601364
Subject(s) - hela , calcification , cancer cell , cancer research , cancer , in vivo , chemistry , metastasis , calcium , cell , chemotherapy , drug , pharmacology , biochemistry , medicine , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , organic chemistry
Herein, we propose a drug‐free approach to cancer therapy that involves cancer cell targeting calcification (CCTC). Several types of cancer cells, such as HeLa cells, characterized by folate receptor (FR) overexpression, can selectively adsorb folate (FA) molecules and then concentrate Ca 2+ locally to induce specific cell calcification. The resultant calcium mineral encapsulates the cancer cells, inducing their death, and in vivo assessments confirm that CCTC treatment can efficiently inhibit tumor growth and metastasis without damaging normal cells compared with conventional chemotherapy. Accordingly, CCTC remarkably improve the survival rate of tumor mice. Notably, both FA and calcium ions are essential ingredients in human metabolism, which means that CCTC is a successful drug‐free method for tumor therapy. This achievement may further represent an alternative cancer therapy characterized by selective calcification‐based substitution of sclerosis for tumor disease.