Molecular refrigerators: a new approach in anti-cancer therapy

Introduction The temperature difference between normal and cancer cells was proven to be one of the fundamental quantities in the cancer growth. The allosteric transition is a conformational change of a protein conditioned to the binding at a specific site; in an enzyme, the two different parts can oscillate around their equilibrium state: if the temperature increases these parts increase their oscillating amplitudes, decreasing in their functionality. The Hypothesis The entropy generation approach has been used in order to evaluate the stationary conditions of tumoral cells, in relation to the transport processes. The tumoral systems can assume all the values of volume, temperature, chemical reaction rate and the time of chemical reaction, inside its stationary range of variation: outside of this range, the cancer cannot develop and dies. Evaluation of Hypothesis The control of these physical-chemical processes can be obtained by using molecular refrigerators in order to control the temperature of the cells. The aim is to maintain the temperature of a normal cell and not to allow the cell to increase it temperature up to the cancer state. The useful effect consists in obtaining conformational changes in a protein by supplying free energy on one site of the molecule, required for driving the cooling process. This thermalization is suggested as an anticancer therapy. The temperature variation is evaluated by using the entropy generation approach. Conclusion The results obtained represent a new approach to the study of the cancer and to the development of new anticancer therapy, based on molecular refrigeration.