Interactions between cancer treatment drugs, boron nitride nanocarrier studied in Iran

Iranian researchers from Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz carried out computational studies on the combination of an anticancer drug and nanomaterials and evaluated the possibility of introducing a new drug nanocarrier to improve the therapeutic properties of the medicine. Results of the research can have applications in pharmaceutics industry. Results obtained by the researchers showed that boron nitride nanotubes are among efficient materials in target drug delivery to cancer tissue to cure cancer. The nanostructures have high physical and chemical stability. Boron nitride nanotubes are hydrophobic and insoluble in water and they are resistant against oxidation. A drug carrier must necessarily have the abovementioned properties. In this research, interactions between boron nitride nanotubes and anticancer drugs of cisplatin and Nedaplatin were studied through DFT computational method. The interactions between drugs and nanotubes whose surface have been modified with aluminum have been studied in another part of the study too. Results showed that drugs have weak interactions with the nanostructures, regardless of where they have been absorbed on boron nitride nanotube. In case the surface of the nanotube is coated with aluminum, the drugs are adsorbed on nanotubes with significant energy. The stable structure of the compound expresses the strong sorption of platinum-based drugs by the compound. Therefore, this nanostructured compound is considered an efficient carrier to deliver drug to the target tissue. The interactions between boron nitride nanotubes and Nedaplatin, which is a new generation of platinum-based anticancer drugs, are much more than those between boron nitride nanotubes and cisplatin. Results of the research have been published in Physica E, vol. 57, issue 1, January 2014, pp. 47-55.