Nanoparticle News and Research

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In nanotechnology, a particle is defined as a small object that behaves as a whole unit in terms of its transport and properties. It is further classified according to size: in terms of diameter, fine particles cover a range between 100 and 2500 nanometers, while ultrafine particles, on the other hand, are sized between 1 and 100 nanometers.

Anti-cancer drug conjugates: an interview with Dr Andreas Menrad, CSO Ablynx and Dr Chris Martin, CEO Spirogen

Antibodies and in the case of Ablynx, Nanobodies, can be raised and selected to bind with high affinity selectively to cancer cells in a tumour. Cancer cells are exquisitely sensitive to certain toxins such as the PBDs produced by Spirogen.

12 Mar 2013

Melittin-loaded nanoparticles can destroy human immunodeficiency virus

Nanoparticles carrying a toxin found in bee venom can destroy human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) while leaving surrounding cells unharmed, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown.

8 Mar 2013

EpiCept fourth quarter revenue decreases to $0.1 million

EpiCept Corporation today announced operating and financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2012, and provided an update on the Company's merger with Immune Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (Immune).

28 Feb 2013

Immune Pharmaceuticals commences Phase II study with bertilimumab to treat ulcerative colitis

Immune Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a privately held Israeli company, and EpiCept Corporation announced today that Immune is initiating, following authorization from Israeli health authorities, a Phase II double-blind placebo controlled study with its lead drug, bertilimumab, in patients with moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis.

21 Feb 2013

Expert to explain how extremely stable gold nanoparticles can be used in medicine

A nanoscale science expert will explain how extremely stable gold nanoparticles can be used in medicine. Professor Mathias Brust, of the University of Liverpool, will give his lecture Monolayer Protected Clusters of Gold: Building Blocks, Functional Materials, Macromolecules, Biomedical Tools and more at the University of Leicester on Thursday, February 21.

20 Feb 2013

New materials mimic mussel adhesive proteins for three medical applications

When it comes to sticking power under wet conditions, marine mussels are hard to beat. They can adhere to virtually all inorganic and organic surfaces, sustaining their tenacious bonds in saltwater, including turbulent tidal environments.

18 Feb 2013

Spherical nucleic acids could revolutionize biomedicine

Northwestern University's Chad A. Mirkin, a world-renowned leader in nanotechnology research and its application, has invented and developed a powerful material that could revolutionize biomedicine: spherical nucleic acids (SNAs).

16 Feb 2013

New drug delivery system can reduce size of ovarian tumors by as much as 83%

By loading fragile RNA into silicon nanoparticles, researchers from The Methodist Hospital and two other institutions found a new drug delivery system can reduce the size of ovarian tumors by as much as 83 percent -- and stop tumor growth in chemotherapy-resistant ovarian cancer tissue.

13 Feb 2013

RNAi effective in treating cancer patients

The new study published in Cancer Discovery, the flagship journal of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR), involving three Spanish and six American research centres, presents significant results in treating cancer patients with nanoparticles containing ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi) molecules.

13 Feb 2013

DNAzymes and gold nanoparticles used to detect infectious diseases

Infectious diseases such as malaria and syphilis can be diagnosed rapidly and reliably in the field by using a simple test developed by Canadian scientists. The test is based on the use of DNAzymes and gold nanoparticles. As the researchers report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, their test allows for the sensitive detection of bacteria, viruses, and parasites.

12 Feb 2013

Researchers identify miR-506 as potential therapeutic candidate for metastatic ovarian cancer

Researchers employed an extensive analysis of genomic information to identify a new, high-risk cohort of ovarian cancer patients, characterize their tumors, find a potential treatment and test it in mouse models of the disease.

11 Feb 2013

Scientists trace nanoparticles taken up from soils by crop plants

Scientists have, for the first time, traced the nanoparticles taken up from the soil by crop plants and analysed the chemical states of their metallic elements. Zinc was shown to dissolve and accumulate throughout the plants, whereas the element cerium did not dissolve into plant tissue.

7 Feb 2013

Drug-carrying nanoparticles have another hurdle to overcome - escaping the bloodstream

Many medically minded researchers are in hot pursuit of designs that will allow drug-carrying nanoparticles to navigate tissues and the interiors of cells, but University of Michigan engineers have discovered that these particles have another hurdle to overcome: escaping the bloodstream.

7 Feb 2013

CWRU researcher to create new materials, techniques to test knee and hip implants

A Case Western Reserve University chemistry professor has begun imbedding magnetic nanoparticles in the toughest of plastics to understand why more than 40,000 Americans must replace their knee and hip replacements annually.

6 Feb 2013

New gold nanoparticle can transport powerful radioactive particles directly to tumors

We've all heard that "it's not wise to use a cannon to kill a mosquito." But what if you could focus the cannon's power to concentrate power into a tiny space? In a new study, University of Missouri researchers have demonstrated the ability to harness powerful radioactive particles and direct them toward small cancer tumors while doing negligible damage to healthy organs and tissues.

5 Feb 2013

Cloaked nanoparticles escape immune system surveillance to reach desired target

By cloaking nanoparticles in the membranes of white blood cells, scientists at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute may have found a way to prevent the body from recognizing and destroying them before they deliver their drug payloads. The group describes its "LeukoLike Vectors", or LLVs, in the January issue of Nature Nanotechnology.

4 Feb 2013

STA announces results from ABRAXANE plus gemcitabine phase III trial on pancreatic cancer

Australian biopharmaceutical company Specialised Therapeutics Australia announces that a phase III clinical trial of world leading breast cancer drug ABRAXANE (nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel) in combination with current standard of care gemcitabine in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer has demonstrated substantially improved survival times, with double the number of patients surviving two years.

23 Jan 2013

Golden nanoparticle starves cancer cell to death

How do you annihilate lymphoma without using any drugs? Starve it to death by depriving it of what appears to be a favorite food: HDL cholesterol.

21 Jan 2013

Nanoparticle researcher to deliver inaugural presentation at next ACS national meeting

A noted researcher in nanomedicine ― preventing, diagnosing and treating disease with particles so small that thousands fit across the width of a human hair ― will deliver the inaugural presentation in "The Kavli Foundation Emerging Leader in Chemistry Lecture" at the next National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

4 Jan 2013

Iron oxide nanoparticles could help track transplanted human endothelial cells

A team of researchers from three medical institutions in Guangzhou, China, have found that iron oxide nanoparticles (INOPS) are a useful contrast agent for in vivo magnetic resonance tracking of transplanted human endothelial cells.

21 Dec 2012