18_JACKSONIAN_UNIVERSITY ACHIEVEMENTS
Big
in a tiny dimension
JSU researcher attacks cancer with nanoparticles BY JEAN GORDON COOK
A Dr. Paresh Chandra Ray (front, right) leads JSU’s Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. His team includes research associate and physicist Dr. Anant K. Singh (left), chemistry and biochemistry doctoral students Zhen Fan, Xuemei Dai, Yao Ping Zhang, Teresa Demeritte, Rajashkhar Kanchanapally, Sadia Afrin Khan and research associate Dr. DulalSenapati.
t Dr. Paresh Chandra Ray’s lab in the E.E. Just Hall of Science, the chemistry and biochemistry professor and his research team are working on the early detection and killing of cancer cells and drug-resistant salmonella. Using nanotechnology, Ray has developed his own weapon: a photothermal therapy system using gold, popcorn-shaped nanoparticles that are 1 million times smaller than an ant. The laser system tracks down and kills cancer cells and multi-drugresistant bacteria. “This not only kills the cells, but during the killing we can monitor whether the therapy works or not,” says Ray, who directs Jackson State University’s Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. With his findings published in numerous scientific journals this year, Ray and his team have been working to keep ahead of the rapid developments in nanotechnology. Over the past decade, the growing
field has made advances in everything from drugs to cosmetics to electronics. Because Ray’s method kills cancer cells without harming healthy cells in the process, his work paves the way for researchers to develop a cancer treatment without the harsh side effects of chemotherapy and radiation. So far his photothermal therapy system has proven effective in the lab killing prostate cancer cells, breast cancer cells, skin cancer cells and liver cancer cells. The method has also been the first to use gold nanoparticles to target and kill multiple-drug-resistant salmonella bacteria DT104. To further his research, Ray has teamed with Penn State University, which is testing his method on mice. The next phase will test on monkeys. “In eight to 10 years we hope to have human trials,” Ray says. “In 15 years, nanotechnology will be very useful for cancer treatment.” Jackson State is among the growing number of