Green Tea Quantum Dots Promise Efficient Lung Cancer Treatment Strategies
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Green Tea Quantum Dots Promise Efficient Lung Cancer Treatment Strategies

Indian scientists from Bharathiar University and the K. S. Rangasamy College of Technology, along with their counterparts at the Swansea University have now discovered nanoparticles derived from tea leaves capable of inhibiting and destroying lung cancer cells.

Our research confirmed previous evidence that tea leaf extract can be a non-toxic alternative to making quantum dots using chemicals,” said lead researcher Dr Sudhagar Pitchaimuthu.

“The CdS quantum dots derived from tea leaf extract showed exceptional fluorescence emission in cancer cell bioimaging compared to conventional CdS nanoparticles. They also have other possible applications, for example in anti-microbial paint used in operating theatres, or in sun creams.”

Quantum dots are nanoparticles used in everything from computers and solar cells into tumour imaging.  The procedure used to create them may be costly and occasionally leads to hazardous side effects. From the hunt to get a healthier alternative, the Swansea team blended green tea leaf extract using cadmium sulphate (CdSO4) and sodium sulphide (Na2S).

The resultant was then allowed to incubate, inducing quantum dots to shape.  Working along with

two universities, the UK-based researchers were originally able to back up past work performed on quantum dots created with tea leaves.

Further, what came as a surprise to the researchers was that these nanoparticles also inhibited the growth of lung cancer cells, by penetrating into the nanopores of the cells. The quantum dots demonstrated the destruction of up to 80 per cent of these lung cancer cells.

The real surprise, however, was that the dots actively inhibited the growth of the lung cancer cells,” said Dr Pitchaimuthu. “We hadn’t been expecting this. Quantum dots are therefore a very promising avenue to explore for developing new cancer treatments.”

“Building on this exciting discovery, the next step is to scale up our operation, hopefully with the help of other collaborators. We want to investigate the role of tea leaf extract in cancer cell imaging, and the interface between quantum dots and the cancer cell. We would like to set up a ‘quantum dot factory’ which will allow us to explore more fully the ways in which they can be used.”

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