Tweaking cell binding can improve ultrasound cancer treatment: Study

CELLS and spacing between them plays a crucial role for a healthy body. A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science shows that tweaking the spacing between the cells' binding domain on the extracellular matrix (ECM) helps improve the efficiency of ultrasound treatment, which is used to kill cancer cells.

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Researchers of the study 'Nanoscale Ligand Spacing Regulates Mechanical Force - Induced Cancer Cell Killing' explained that cells have surface receptors called integrins that bind to repetitive domains present on the ECM surrounding the cells, allowing them to grow and spread. The study by researchers from the Department of Bioengineering (BE), IISc, was also published in Nano Letters, on January 30, 2025.

Explaining the study paper, released on Tuesday, researchers noted that in a normal tissue, the spacing on the ECM is around 50-70 nanometres (nm), but in the tumour micro-environment, severe choking occurs due to excessive ECM secretion, which reduces the binding spacing to below 50nm.

Ajay Tijore, Assistant Professor in BE and co-author of the paper said: "We found more cancer cells being killed when the binding spacing is increased to around 50-70 nm."