Gold Nanoparticles News and Research

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Gold nanoparticles are made up of metallic gold atoms to create a crystal structure of 1-100 nm.

Physicists and oncologists to develop novel ultra sensitive platform for early cancer detection

The SPEDOC project will create the precursor to future devices for individualized diagnosis and monitoring of cancer therapy, which will allow the illness to be treated in earlier stages and at lower doses, reducing or preventing current secondary effects.

29 Apr 2010

Potential new early cancer detection method using engineered gold nanoparticles

University of Missouri School of Medicine scientists explain a potentially new early cancer detection and treatment method using nanoparticles created at MU in an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The article illustrates how engineered gold nanoparticles tied to a cancer-specific receptor could be targeted to tumor cells to treat prostate, breast or lung cancers in humans.

23 Apr 2010

High sensitivity of Zetasizer Nano proves essential for protein aggregation studies

Dr Martin Muschol, Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida’s (USF) Department of Physics and his team are carrying out important research to gain a better understanding of protein aggregation phenomena, including protein crystallization and amyloid fibril growth. Using the Zetasizer Nano ZS, from Malvern Panalytical (Malvern Panalytical, UK), the USF researchers have been able to perform temperature controlled static and dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements of protein hydration, protein interactions and aggregation kinetics in vitro.

From Malvern Panalytical 15 Apr 2010

Lauric-acid-filled nano-scale bombs for treating acne

A natural product found in both coconut oil and human breast milk - lauric acid -- shines as a possible new acne treatment thanks to a bioengineering graduate student from the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. The student developed a "smart delivery system" - published in the journal ACS Nano in March - capable of delivering lauric-acid-filled nano-scale bombs directly to skin-dwelling bacteria (Propionibacterium acnes) that cause common acne.

15 Apr 2010

Researchers report major step forward in effort to understand and engineer protein structure

Researchers in Singapore are reporting this week that they have gleaned key insights into the architecture of a protein that controls iron levels in almost all organisms. Their study culminated in one of the first successful attempts to take apart a complex biological nanostructure and isolate the rules that govern its natural formation.

12 Apr 2010

Study suggests new ways to improve anti-cancer chemotherapies

A study released this week suggests that anti-cancer chemotherapies which use nanoparticles to deliver drugs deep inside tumor tissue will be more effective if the particles are positively electrically charged because they are taken up to a greater extent by proliferating cells, according to a team of chemists and chemical engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

12 Apr 2010

Gold nanoparticles for detecting melamine in milk

University of Miami assistant professor in the College of Engineering, Na Li and her collaborators have developed a fast, economical and easy method to detect melamine in milk. Melamine is the compound found in contaminated pet food and in tainted dairy products from China in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

2 Apr 2010

Biophotonics: Light to cure disease

Biophotonics, or photomedicine, is a relatively unknown discipline, though it has existed for years now. You may have even benefited from it without realizing it. Some of the greatest advances of this field can be found in applications for the areas of oncology, dermatology, ophthalmology, surgery and cardiology.

27 Mar 2010

Novel procedure opens door to new and future treatment for pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer-known as the most fatal cancer with no known effective treatment-requires a radical new therapy. A promising approach may come in the form of tiny gold nanoparticles-loaded with a therapeutic agent to kill cancer-in a novel procedure called "nanoembolization," said researchers at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 35th Annual Scientific Meeting in Tampa, Fla.

17 Mar 2010

Houston scientists unveil new technique for growing 3-D cell cultures

The film "Avatar" isn't the only 3-D blockbuster making a splash this winter. A team of Houston scientists this week unveiled a new technique for growing 3-D cell cultures, a technological leap from the flat petri dish that could save millions of dollars in drug-testing costs. The research is reported in Nature Nanotechnology.

16 Mar 2010

Directing gold nanoparticles into nucleus can kill cancer cells

Taking gold nanoparticles to the cancer cell and hitting them with a laser has been shown to be a promising tool in fighting cancer, but what about cancers that occur in places where a laser light can't reach? Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have shown that by directing gold nanoparticles into the nuclei of cancer cells, they can not only prevent them from multiplying, but can kill them where they lurk. The research appeared as a communication in the February 10 edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

17 Feb 2010

Gold nanoparticles for cancer treatment

World Gold Council (WGC) has today published 'Gold for Good: Gold and nanotechnology in the age of innovation', a research paper detailing new scientific and technological innovations using gold. The report, which was produced in conjunction with Cientifica Ltd, the world's leading source of global business and investor intelligence about nanotechnologies, demonstrates how gold nanoparticles offer the potential to overcome many of the serious issues facing mankind over the coming decades.

12 Feb 2010

Scientists discover new technique to destroy individual diseased cells

Using lasers and nanoparticles, scientists at Rice University have discovered a new technique for singling out individual diseased cells and destroying them with tiny explosions.

5 Feb 2010

Way to capture tumor cells in the bloodstream discovered

A team led by University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) researchers on the cutting edge of nanotechnology has found a way to capture tumor cells in the bloodstream that could dramatically improve earlier cancer diagnosis and prevent deadly metastasis.

18 Nov 2009

NCI grant to conduct innovative cancer research

A consortium led by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston has been awarded a major grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to establish a center to conduct innovative cancer research.

28 Oct 2009

Gates Foundation awards Vanderbilt University $100,000 for developing a malaria diagnostic test

Vanderbilt University announced Oct. 21 that it has received a $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant will support an innovative global health research project conducted by Associate Professor of Chemistry David Wright and Professor of Biomedical Engineering Rick Haselton, titled "Coffee Ring Stain Diagnostics for Malaria."

22 Oct 2009

Nanotags pinpoint multiple cancer markers in live animals

Using nanoparticles designed specifically to produce a bright Raman spectroscopic signal, a team of investigators at the Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence Focused on Therapy Response (Stanford University Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence [CCNE]) has shown that it can simultaneously track as many as 10 different optical tags in a living animal.

7 Sep 2009

Aptamer nanoflares for molecular detection in living cells

By combining a gold nanoparticle with a unique family of nucleic acids, researchers at Northwestern University have created a new type of intracellular reporting system that with a flash of light reveals the presence and quantity of a wide variety of biologically important molecules. These so-called nanoflares could provide cancer biologists with a highly sensitive method of tracking complex biochemical processes in real time without interfering with those processes.

7 Sep 2009

Scientists combine two nanoparticles into one tiny package

Nanoparticles are being developed to perform a wide range of medical uses - imaging tumors, carrying drugs, delivering pulses of heat. Rather than settling for just one of these, researchers at the University of Washington have combined two nanoparticles in one tiny package.

28 Jul 2009

Nanoparticle-based “chemical nose” sniffs out cancer earlier to improve treatment options

Using a "chemical nose" array of nanoparticles and polymers, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have developed a fundamentally new, more effective way to differentiate not only between healthy and cancerous cells but also between metastatic and nonmetastatic cancer cells. It is a tool that could revolutionize cancer detection and treatment, according to Vincent M. Rotello, Ph.D., M.Phil., and D. Joseph Jerry, Ph.D., M.S., the investigators who led the study.

21 Jul 2009