Very cool.

For more than a decade, biomedical researchers have been looking for better ways to deliver cancer-killing medication directly to tumors in the body. Tiny capsules, called nanoparticles, are now being used to transport chemotherapy medicine through the bloodstream, to the doorstep of cancerous tumors. But figuring out the best way for the particles to get past the tumor’s “velvet rope” and enter the tumor is a challenge scientists are still working out. Drexel University researchers believe that the trick to gaining access to the pernicious cellular masses is to give the nanoparticles a new look—and that dressing to impress will be able to get them past the tumor’s biological bouncers.

Targeted cancer therapy is most effective when the medication is released as close as possible to the interior of a tumor, to increase its odds of penetrating and killing off cancerous cells. The challenge that has faced cancer researchers for years is making a delivery vehicle that is sturdy enough to safely get the medication through the bloodstream to tumors—which is no smooth ride—but is also lithe enough to squeeze through the tumor’s dense extra cellular space—a matrix stuffed with sugars called hyaluronic acid.

In research recently published in the journal Nano Letters, lead author Hao Cheng, PhD, an assistant professor with an appointment in Drexel’s College of Engineering, and affiliation with School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems; reports that the way to get past the tumor’s front door has everything to do with how the tiny particle is suited up for the journey.