Genetically engineered bacterium enables biosynthesis of melanin nanoparticles

A team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen University, and Guangdong Medical University has developed a new method of synthesizing melanin nanoparticles for photothermal therapy. The method involves heterologously expressing a tyrosinase gene in Escherichia coli, producing the melanin nanoparticles under mild and environmentally friendly conditions. The biosynthetic melanin nanoparticles exhibit biocompatibility, stability, and low toxicity, with strong absorption in the near-infrared region and high photothermal conversion efficiency. The researchers found that the biosynthetic melanin nanoparticles are suitable for photoacoustic imaging-guided photothermal therapy, and could have potential for use in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

SOURCE phys.org