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.

UCSB researchers use lasers to deliver drugs into cancer cells

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have developed a new way to deliver drugs into cancer cells by exposing them briefly to a non-harmful laser. Their results are published in a recent article in ACS Nano, a journal of the American Chemical Society.

10 Sep 2009

Specific targeting of brain tumors with an optical/magnetic resonance imaging nanoprobe across the blood-brain barrier

Earlier this year, researchers at the University of Washington reported that they had developed a toxin-nanoparticle combination that inhibits brain cancer invasion when added to tumor cells growing in culture.

7 Sep 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

Nanoparticle-delivered suicide gene therapy effectively reduces ovarian tumor burden in mice

Nanoparticle delivery of diphtheria toxin-encoding DNA that expresses selectively in ovarian cancer cells reduced the burden of ovarian tumors in mice, and researchers expect that this therapy could be tested in humans with advanced ovarian cancer within 18 to 24 months, according to a report in Cancer Research. If additional tests are successful, these finding could lead to a new treatment for ovarian cancer, which now causes more than 15,000 deaths each year in the United States. Because it is usually diagnosed at a relatively late stage, ovarian cancer is one of the most deadly forms of the disease.

7 Sep 2009

Rapid detection and profiling of cancer cells in fine-needle aspirates

Using a new type of paramagnetic nanoparticle and a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) system built into a microfluidic device, a team of investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School has created an assay system capable of detecting as few as two cancer cells in 1 microliter of biological fluid. In addition, the new assay requires little sample processing and produces results in less than 15 minutes.

7 Sep 2009

Molecularly targeted nanocarriers deliver the cytolytic peptide melittin specifically to tumor cells in mice, reducing tumor growth

When bees sting, they pump into their victims a peptide toxin called melittin that destroys cell membranes. Now, by encapsulating this extremely potent molecule within a nanoparticle, researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have created a potential new type of anticancer therapy with the potential to target a wide range of tumors. This work was reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

7 Sep 2009

Researchers to analyse nanoparticles

Researchers at Swansea University's Centre for NanoHealth have been awarded £1 million by the Research Councils' Nanoscience through Engineering to Application cross-council programme, led by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC), to analyse the levels at which nanoparticles can be deemed safe within cells.

3 Sep 2009

Leading experts in health and health care reform to take part in symposium

With the nation facing a $9 trillion deficit over the next 10 years, according to government estimates, the future of health care reform depends upon a neglected but critical leg of the equation: cost. Some of the nation’s leading experts in health and health care reform will provide insights into this issue when they converge in Nashville Saturday for a nonpartisan public discussion.

29 Aug 2009

BioAlliance Pharma to discuss nanoparticle technology and its therapeutic applications at the French-Norwegian Interdisciplinary Symposium

BioAlliance Pharma SA, a company dedicated to the treatment and supportive care of cancer and AIDS patients, today announced that it will present its nanoparticle technology and the latter's advantages in therapeutic applications at the French-Norwegian Interdisciplinary Symposium on Nano and Micro Frontiers in Biology and Medicine, to take place in Bergen, Norway, from August 31 to September 2, 2009.

29 Aug 2009

New drug delivery system for delivering nanoparticles into the tissue

Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have discovered a potential new drug delivery system. The finding is a biological mechanism for delivery of nanoparticles into tissue. The results are published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

26 Aug 2009

Applied Nanoscience in joint venture agreement to produce disposable protective face mask

Applied Nanoscience Inc. (ANI) (PINKSHEETS: APNN), a nanotechnology-based filtration development company, today announced it has reached a joint venture agreement to begin production on a disposable protective face mask with its Asia Pacific region partner. The protective mask will incorporate ANI's proprietary NanoFense™ technology, a U.S. patent pending antimicrobial nanoparticle formulation.

21 Aug 2009

Nano-bio material kills cancer cells, leaves healthy cells in unharmed

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago's Brain Tumor Center have developed a way to target brain cancer cells using inorganic titanium dioxide nanoparticles bonded to soft biological material.

19 Aug 2009

Scientists study affect of carbon nanoparticles on fruit flies

Carbon nanoparticles are widely used in medicine, electronics, optics, materials science and architecture, but their health and environmental impact is not fully understood.

7 Aug 2009

Alnylam and Tekmira to collaborate on RNAi therapeutics

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced today that they will jointly participate in a new research collaboration focused on the discovery of novel cationic lipids and lipid nanoparticles for the systemic delivery of RNAi therapeutics.

6 Aug 2009

Research looks at health and environmental effects of exposure to nanoparticles

A new study raises the possibility that flies and other insects that encounter nanomaterial "hot spots," or spills, near manufacturing facilities in the future could pick up and transport nanoparticles on their bodies, transferring the particles to other flies or habitats in the environment.

6 Aug 2009

Scientists illuminate brain tumors with fluorescent nanoparticles

Brain cancer is among the deadliest of cancers. It's also one of the hardest to treat. Imaging results are often imprecise because brain cancers are extremely invasive. Surgeons must saw through the skull and safely remove as much of the tumor as they can. Then doctors use radiation or chemotherapy to destroy cancerous cells in the surrounding tissue.

3 Aug 2009

New nano-gene therapy technique could fight late-stage tumors

Tiny particles carrying a killer gene can effectively suppress ovarian tumor growth in mice, according to a team of researchers from MIT and the Lankenau Institute.

31 Jul 2009

Nanoparticles show potential as part of new therapy for advanced ovarian cancer

Nanoparticle delivery of diphtheria toxin-encoding DNA selectively expressed in ovarian cancer cells reduced the burden of ovarian tumors in mice, and researchers expect this therapy could be tested in humans within 18 to 24 months, according to a report in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

30 Jul 2009

Maternal exposure to nanoparticles related to neurological dysfunction in the mouse

Maternal exposure to nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (TiO2) affects the expression of genes related to the central nervous system in developing mice. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Particle and Fibre Toxicology found that mice whose mothers were injected with the nanoparticles while pregnant showed alteration in gene expression related to neurological dysfunction.

28 Jul 2009