Recently, a research team from China reported the synthesis of urchin-like nickel nanoparticles (UNNPs) by magneto-solvothermal method and their applications in magnetomechanical cancer therapy.

In recent years, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been widely used in cancer treatment, and the concept of "magnetic knife" has also been proposed, that is, magnetic nanoparticles generate mechanical force with a function of "rotating stirring" under the action of a rotating magnetic field.

Using this mechanical force can destroy tumor cells and achieve the same effect as a scalpel. This "magnetic knife" composed of magnetic nanoparticles is not a "knife" in the traditional sense but a "mechanical force" driven by a magnetic field.

This force is similar to the turbo-shaped force produced by a juicer when stirring fruits. The fruit is crushed under the influence of turbo force, and the same cells are crushed under the action of magnetic field mechanical force until they die.

Because of its advantages of deep tumor treatment and remote manipulation, magnetomechanical cancer therapy has received continuous attention in this field.

At present, different types of MNPs have been widely used in the treatment of cancer induced by magnetomechanics, but these MNPs have the disadvantages of smooth surface and weak magnetism, and it is difficult to make greater progress in the treatment of magnetomechanical cancer. Therefore, designing MNPs with high saturation magnetization and structure specificity is of great significance for improving the efficiency of magnetomechanical cancer treatment.

The researchers used a magnetic field and solvothermal method to synthesize UNNPs in one step. The relevant characterization and experiments show that the UNNPs not only have the advantages of high saturation magnetization and structural specificity, but also have no obvious toxic and side effects on normal cells and organisms. Under the low-frequency rotating magnetic field, UNNPs exhibited the role of "magnetic knife", which effectively inhibited the growth of breast cancer in mice.

The related results were published in Chemical Engineering Journal entitled "Synthesis of urchin-like nickel nanoparticles with enhanced rotating magnetic field-induced cell necrosis and tumor inhibition ".

The joint research team was led by Prof. WANG Hui and Prof. ZHANG Xin from High Magnetic Field Laboratory of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation, the start-up fund of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dean's Fund of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Program of Hefei Science Center, Anhui Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Technology of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Schematic diagram of the mechanism by which rotating magnetic fields induce UNNPs to

produce mechanical force to inhibit tumor growth