ELI-RO 30/2024 Project
English (Engleză)
Project title: High-Power laser generated ultra-intense transient magnetic field molecular effects on leukemic and lymphomatous cancer cells / HiPoCell
Periode: 18 July 2024 – 31 March 2027
Contact Person:
Project Director: Dr. Aurelian Marcu (INFLPR)
Coordinator:
National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics - I.N.F.L.P.R.
Atomiștilor 409, Măgurele, Romania
Partners:
P1 – National Institute of Physics and technology - ‘Horia Gulubei (I.F.I.N.-H.H.)
Str. Reactorului nr. 30, Magurele, Ilfov 77125, Romania
P2 – National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucuresti (POLITEHNICA Bucharest)
Splaiul Independentei nr. 313, Sector 6 060042, Bucuresti, Romania
Abstract (Objectives):
Project proposes using High-Power laser generated ultra-intense magnetic pulses to expose and kill specifically iron-tagged acute leukemia and lymphoma cells; this strategy completely reinvents the currently used methods which use prolonged and inefficient cells exposures to low dose magnetic fields generated by conventional devices.
Magnetic fields are presently in vitro tested on cultured cells as an alternative for radiation therapy in cancer. To obtain similar cell lysis effects with X/proton ray irradiation such studies use low intensity pulsed magnetic fields (up to 10 mT) which require prolonged exposure times (for cummulative effects 4-5 days rounds of 2hrs. daily exposure) and whose therapeutic effciency varies with each type of cancer cell studied (less efficient cytolysis). Instead, we use very short pulses (few ns) of ultra strong magnetic fields obtained in the center of mm or less coils bound to thin solid targets irradiated by a High-Power laser pulse ( peak irradiance > 1018 W/ cm2). Using such approach we test their cytolytic efficiency in few minutes sumative exposure on blood white cells from various cancers (acute leukemias and non-hodgkin B cell lymphomas). To potentiate the influence of magnetic fields and to specifically target cytolysis solely on cancer cells (not on adjacent normal cells) they are pre-incubated prior to exposure with iron nanobeads labeled antibodies directed against tumoral surface markers.
Cells exposure to the ultra-intense magnetic pulses will also be performed using a biased magnetic field, initially static and then rotating with the latter main role being to keep the cells in a ‘preexcited’ state and to amplify iron-tagged cells movement into the transitory field (facilitating cell lysis).
Studies of High-Power laser generated strong electromagnetic pulses on cancer cells will represent a step forward in cancer therapies, contributing also to the understanding of how cells respond to such physical challenges. Furthermore, the accumulated knowledge from building generator setups for ultra-intense transient magnetic fields are an important achievement in the fast growing topic of High-Power laser generated EMPs.
Phases:
- 2024 - Tools preparation and preliminary experiments;
- 2025 - Pulsed and rotational magnetic field studies;
- 2026 - Mixed magnetic field studies;
- 2027 - Mixed magnetic field optimizations.
Română (Romanian)
Titlul proiectului: Efectele campurilor magnetice tranzitorii ultra-intense, generate de laserii de mare putere, asupra celulelor canceroase leucemice si limfomatoase / HiPoCell
Perioada: 18 Iulie 2024 – 31 Martie 2027
Persoana de contact:
Director Proiect: Dr. Aurelian Marcu (INFLPR)
Coordonator:
Institutul Național pentru Fizica Laserilor, Plasmei și Radiației - I.N.F.L.P.R.
Atomiștilor 409, Măgurele, ROMÂNIA
Parteneri:
P1 – Institutul National de Fizica si Inginerie Nucleara ‘Horia Gulubei (IFIN-HH)
Str. Reactorului nr. 30, Magurele, Ilfov 77125, Romania
P2 – Universitatea Nationala de Stiinta si Tehnologie POLITEHNICA Bucuresti (POLITEHNICA Bucuresti)
Splaiul Independentei nr. 313, Sector 6 060042, Bucuresti, Romania
Abstract (Obiective):
Proiectul propune utilizarea câmpurilor magnetice pulsate ultra-intense generate cu laser de mare putere pentru distrugerea celulelor canceroase de leucemie acută și limfom, marcate cu nanoparticule de fier; această strategie reinventează complet metodele actuale, care utilizează expuneri indelungate a celulelor la câmpuri magnetice slabe generate cu dispozitive convenționale.
Expunerea la câmpuri magnetice este testată în prezent in vitro pe celule de cultura ca o alternativă pentru radioterapie în cancer. Pentru a obține efecte similare de liză celulară cu cele obtinute la iradierea cu raze X/protoni, astfel de studii, folosesc câmpuri magnetice pulsate de joasă intensitate (până la 10 mT) care necesită perioade îndelungi de expunere (pentru efecte cumulative 4-5 zile de expunere zilnică de câte 2 ore) și a căror eficiență terapeutică variază cu fiecare tip de celulă canceroasă studiată (citoliză mai puțin eficientă). In propunerea noastra vom folosi pulsuri foarte scurte (câteva ns) de câmpuri magnetice ultra-intense obținute in centrul unor spire de diametru de 1 mm (sau mai mici), conectate la ținte solide subțiri, iradiate de un impuls laser de mare putere ( iradianta de vârf > 1018 W/ cm2). Folosind o astfel de abordare, testăm în câteva minute de expunere cumulativa eficiența citolitică asupra globulelor albe din sânge, de diferite tipuri de cancer (leucemii acute și limfoame cu celule B non-hodgkin). Pentru a potența influența câmpurilor magnetice și pentru a cauza selectiv citoliza numai a celulelor canceroase (nu și a celulelor normale adiacente), inainte de expunere, acestea sunt pre-incubate cu anticorpi marcați cu nanosfere de fier, anticorpi ce recunosc specific markeri tumorali de suprafață.
Expunerea celulelor la pulsurile magnetice ultra-intense va fi efectuată în prezenta unui câmp magnetic de bias, inițial static și apoi rotațional, având rolul de a menține celulele într-o stare „pre-excitată” și de a amplifica mișcarea celulelor marcate (cu nanostructuri de fier) în câmpul tranzitoriu și facilitând astfel liza celulară.
Studiile asupra celulelor expuse la impulsuri electromagnetice ultra-intense generate cu laseri de mare putere, vor reprezenta un pas înainte în terapiile celulare in cancer dar totodată vor contribui și la înțelegerea modului cum celulele răspund la câmpurile magnetice atat de intense. În plus, instrumentele, setup-urile și cunoștințele de generare a câmpurilor magnetice tranziente ultra-intense vor reprezenta o realizare importantă pentru progresul domeniului în general și pentru generarea de pulsuri electromagnetic (EMP) cu laser de mare putere.
Etape:
- 2024 - Pregatirea de dispozitive si experimente preliminarii;
- 2025 - Studii de campuri rotationale si pulsate;
- 2026 - Studii cu campuri magnetice mixte;
- 2027 - Optimizari pe campuri magnetice mixte.
RESULTS:
Cellular irradiation with static magnetic fields – No modifications
Cellular irradiation with low frequency rotational magnetic fields – DNA effects
Cellular irradiation with medium frequency magnetic fields – DNA effects
Oxide nanostructure growth optimizations
Thick target electron penetration/scattering studies and predictions
Publications:
- List of papers (journal or conference proceeding);
- Aurelian Marcu, Mihai Stafe, Andreea Groza, Mihai Serbanescu, Razvan Ungureanu, Gabriel Cojocaru, Constantin Diplasu, Bogdan Mihalcea, Mihai Ganciu Constantin Negutu, Georgiana Giubega and Niculae Puscas, “Correlation of Laser-Accelerated Electron Energy with Electromagnetic Pulse Emission from Thin Metallic Targets”, Appl. Sci. (2025) 5, pp. 29, https://doi.org/10.3390/app15010029
- Andrei Stancalie, Razvan Mihalcea, Daniel Negut, Kyriacos Kalli, and Antreas Theodosiou "Response of femtosecond laser-written fiber Bragg gratings during γ-radiation", Proc. SPIE 13522, Eighth International Workshop on Specialty Optical Fibers and Their Applications (WSOF 2025), 135221C (29 May 2025); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3058193
- Aurelian Marcu, Elena Stancu, Mihai Stafe, Adrian Scurtu, Ana-Maria Tiuleanu, Constantin Diplasu, Maria Balan, Mihai Serbanescu, Dorina Ticos, Cecilia Oanca, Ioana Dinca, Razvan Ungureanu, Gabriel Cojocaru, Goergiana Giubega, Bogdan Butoi, Alexandru Mihalcea, Youmali Sangwogou, Sandel Simion, 31st International Symposium on Discharges and Electrical Insulation in Vacuum- accepted proceedings IEEE (2025)
- List of talks of group members (title, conference or meeting, date);
- E. Ionita , P. Koo, and M. Ciubotaru, “Ultrasensitive Single Molecule TPM Detection of cMYC - Ebox DNA Interactions as Biomarker for Early Diagnosis of Acute Leukemias and Lymphomas”, IMMUNOLOGY SUMMIT 2025 ,14-15 iulie, Valencia, SPANIA, - plenary talk
- Aurelian Marcu, Constantin Diplasu, Razvan Ungureanu, Mihai Serbanescu, Razvan Mihalcea, Maria Balan, Ana Tiulean, Alexandru Mihalcea, Cecilia Oanca, Ioana Dinca, Cornel Staicu, Dorina Ticos, Adrian Scurtu, Georgiana Giubega, Gabriel Cojocaru, Beatrice Paraschiv and Sandel Simion, “Nanostructured Surfaces for Laser Particle Acceleration”, The 14th Global Conference on Materials Science and Engineering (CMSE 2025), Xi'an, Shaanxi, China on October 16-19, 2025. – invited talk
- V. Ioniţă, M. Rebican, L. Petrescu şi E. Cazacu - Magnetic analysis of magnetic rotating field devices for studies about the molecular effects in blood cells, 25th International Conference on the Computation of Electromagnetic Fields (COMPUMAG), Napoli (Italia), 22-26 iunie 2025, https://compumag2025.com/ - oral presentation
- M. Rebican, V. Ioniță, L. Petrescu - Numerical design of Helmholtz coils for magnetic rotating field used in biomedical applications, 22nd International Symposium on Electromagnetic Fields in Mechatronics, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Baiona (Spania), 22-25 sept. 2025, https://isef2025.webs.uvigo.es/ - oral presentation
- Elena Ionita, Aurelian Marcu, Mihaela Temelie, Diana Savu, Mihai Serbanescu, and Mihai Ciubotaru, “Radiofrequency EMF irradiation effects on pre-B lymphocytes undergoing somatic recombination”, 14th World-Gene Convention (WGC 2025) , 15-17oct 2025, Nisa Franta, - oral presentation
- L. Petrescu, V. Ionita, M. Rebican, M.-C. Petrescu - Investigation of homogenous magnetic field obtained by quadrupole cores for frequencies up to 1 MHz, The 14th International Symposium on Advanced Topics in Electrical Engineering (ATEE 2025), Bucuresti, 9-11 oct. 2025, https://atee.upb.ro/atee2025/ - oral presentation
- Maria A. Balan, Razvan Mihalcea, Youmali Sangwogou, Marius Dumitru and Aurelian Marcu, “Zinc Oxide Nanowire Layers for Laser Particle Acceleration Processes”, International Balkan Workshop on Applied Physics and Materials Science, July 9-12 (2025) Constanta, Romania - oral presentation
- L. Petrescu, V. Ioniță, M. Rebican şi M.-C. Petrescu - Optimization of quadrupole core for homogenous magnetic field using non-oriented silicon-iron materials, 27th Soft Magnetic Materials Conference (SMM), Torino (Italia), 8-11 sept. 2025, https://smm27.polito.it - oral presentation
- Maria A. Balan, Razvan Mihalcea, Youmali Sanwogou, Marius Dumitru and Aurelian Marcu, “ZnO nanowire layers for high-intensity laser-target interaction and particle acceleration”, “IRTG Days” Meeting, May 22-23, 2025 ELI-NP, Magurele, Romania - oral presentation
- Aurelian Marcu, Elena Stancu, Mihai Stafe, Adrian Scurtu, Ana-Maria Tiuleanu, Constantin Diplasu, Maria Balan, Mihai Serbanescu, Dorina Ticos, Cecilia Oanca, Ioana Dinca, Razvan Ungureanu, Gabriel Cojocaru, Goergiana Giubega, Bogdan Butoi, Alexandru Mihalcea, Youmali Sangwogou, Sandel Simion, 31st International Symposium on Discharges and Electrical Insulation in Vacuum, 21-26 September (2025) Chengdu, China - oral presentation
- Constantin Diplasu, Maria Balan, Dorina Ticos, Adrian Scurtu, Aurelian Marcu, Razvan Ungureanu, Mihai Serbanescu, Razvan Mihalcea, Ana Tiulean, Alexandru Mihalcea, Cecilia Oanca, Ioana Dinca, Cornel Staicu, Georgiana Giubega, Gabriel Cojocaru, Beatrice Paraschiv and Sandel Simion, “ Nanowire layers as laser particle accelerator targets”, Nanotexology, 5-12 July 2025, Thesaloniki, Greece – poster presentation
- Ana-Maria Tiuleanu, Mihai Serbanescu, Valentin Ionita, Aurelian Marcu, “Variable magnetic field generation: toward high-power laser-matter interactions”, “IRTG Days” Meeting, May 22-23, 2025 ELI-NP, Magurele, Romania – poster presentation
- Aurelian Marcu, Valentin Ionita, Bogdan Butoi, Paul Dinca, Cornel Staicu, Mihai Serbanescu, Razvan Ungureanu, Gabriel Cojocaru, Constantin Diplasu, Georgiana Giubega, Cecilia Oanca, Ana Tiuleanu, Mihai Stafe, Maria Balan, Sandel Simion, “EMP-Based Monitoring of High-Power Laser Interaction Processes”, PhotonIcs and Electromagnetics Research Symposium, (PIERS) 5-9 November 2025, Chiba, Japan – poster presentation
- Ana-Maria Tiuleanu, Mihai Serbanescu, Valentin Ionita and Aurelian Marcu, “3D Variable Magnetic Field Generator”, International Balkan Workshop on Applied Physics and Materials Science, July 9-12 (2025) Constanta, Romania – poster presentation
- Maria Bălan, Youmali Sanwogou, Marius Dumitru, Aurelian Marcu, “VLS Growth of Nanostructures for Laser Particle Acceleration Applications”, 8th International Conference on Emerging Technologies in Materials Engineering (EmergeMAT), 30-31 October (2025), Bucharest, Romania – poster presentation
Group activities:
Collaborations, education, outreach
- 2 ‘Internship’ students on laser-matter interaction (project) topics, 17 November – 5 December 2025
- 1 ‘Internship’ student on nanostructured surfaces (project) topics, 17 November – 5 December 2025
- 2 student participation to Lasers4EU & 360 Carla training: "High Power Lasers for Industrial Applications", 16-17 October 2025, Praha, Cech Republc
- 2 student participation to Markus Pessa International Summer School "New Frontiers in Optical Technologies", 11 – 15 August 2025, Tampere, Finland