For over a decade , Tanja Dučić - beamline scientist at MIRAS beamline of ALBA - and an international team have been on a mission to tackle glioblastoma, the most aggressive and deadly brain cancer in adults. Their journey began in 2015, when a UICC International Cancer Technology Transfer Fellowship supported Dr. Dučić’s project with Prof. Gayle E. Woloschak at Northwestern University (USA), using advanced imaging and the APS synchrotron to study patient-derived cancer cells (published in Analyst, 2017).

The same cells were later analyzed using live-cell FTIR spectroscopy and microscopy at the synchrotrons ALBA and ELTTRA (Italy) (Analytical Chemistry, 2022). This work led to the first collaboration and joint publication combining synchrotron-based beamline at ALBA with Cryo-TEM electron microscopy, owned by the IBMB-CSIC and part of the Joint Electron Microscopy Center at ALBA (JEMCA) (ACS Omega, 2024). European partners, including Manuel Algarra (Public University of Navarra), Elena González-Muñoz (University of Málaga), and Milena Ninkovic (University of Göttingen), contributed to these projects.

The team developed tiny carbon-based nanoparticles, called AMPS-CDs, which proved harmless to healthy brain cells. The novelty came when these nanoparticles were combined with the drug riluzole, forming a complex AMPS-CDs@RZ. In patient-derived glioblastoma cells, this combination selectively triggered cancer cell death while sparing healthy tissue. The study, recently published in the Journal of Nanobiotechnology, demonstrates a nanoparticle-based approach that boosts the effectiveness of existing drugs while minimizing damage to healthy brain cells.

The treated cells were examined at the MIRAS and MISTRAL beamlines of ALBA in collaboration with Eva Pereiro former beamline responsible of MISTRAL. Using live-cell spectroscopy and cryo–soft X-ray tomography, researchers observed dramatic cellular changes under physiologically relevant conditions—including massive changes in the nucleus (nuclear envelope blebbing), altered mitochondrial dynamics, and increased vesicle activity—revealing a complex mechanism behind riluzole’s enhanced effects.

Under powerful synchrotron imaging techniques, researchers observed cancer cells undergo dramatic structural and chemical changes: their nuclei formed unusual bulges, their energy factories went into overdrive, and internal membranes multiplied—essentially turning the cells against themselves. Meanwhile, healthy brain cells remained mainly unharmed, showing the treatment’s precision.

These insights could help scientists fine-tune therapies in the future. With further testing underway on 3D cell culture, these nanoparticles could become a next-generation weapon against one of the deadliest brain cancers.

"While still at the fundamental research stage, these findings provide a roadmap for developing safer, more precise therapies for glioblastoma and offer hope for tackling tumors resistant to conventional treatments", said Dr Dučić.

An overview of the experimental setup at ALBA with a complex of carbon dot (CD) nanoparticles and riluzole drug (AMPS-CDs@RZ) (central yellow dashed border line) with Glioblastoma patient cells under visible microscopy (grey border line: top), live cell imaging by FTIR (red border line) and cryo X-ray tomography (blue border line bottom). From Dučić et al., Journal of Nanobiotechnology 2025 (doi: 10.1186/s12951-025-03687-2).