Nanoparticles News and Research

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Quantum dot nanoparticles can penetrate skin through minor abrasions

Researchers at North Carolina State University have found that quantum dot nanoparticles can penetrate the skin if there is an abrasion, providing insight into potential workplace concerns for healthcare workers or individuals involved in the manufacturing of quantum dots or doing research on potential biomedical applications of the tiny nanoparticles.

2 Jul 2008

Laser "microscalpel" to target individual cancer cells

Mechanical engineering Assistant Professor Adela Ben-Yakar at The University of Texas at Austin has developed a laser "microscalpel" that destroys a single cell while leaving nearby cells intact, which could improve the precision of surgeries for cancer, epilepsy and other diseases.

24 Jun 2008

Noninvasive molecular imaging technology helps track stem cells in tumors

Using noninvasive molecular imaging technology, a method has been developed to track the location and activity of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the tumors of living organisms, according to researchers at the Society of Nuclear Medicine's 55th Annual Meeting. This ability could lead to major advances in the use of stem cell therapies to treat cancer.

16 Jun 2008

Nanoparticles trigger built-in cell-death signal to overcome drug resistance

One of the most vexing problems in treating cancer is the propensity of tumors to develop resistance to a wide range of anticancer drugs. Over 70 percent of ovarian cancer patients, for example, have drug-resistant tumors at the time of their initial diagnosis, and virtually all patients who relapse have drug-resistant tumors.

15 Jun 2008

High-content screening as a universal tool for fingerprinting of vytotoxicity of nanoparticles

As researchers develop an ever-expanding toolkit of nanoparticles for use as drug and imaging agent delivery vehicles, there is a growing need to understand how a given nanoparticle's physical and chemical properties affect biological activity and toxicity.

15 Jun 2008

Cancer-detecting nanoparticles

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be a doctor's best friend for detecting a tumor in the body without resorting to surgery. MRI scans use pulses of magnetic waves and gauge the return signals to identify different types of tissue in the body, distinguishing bone from muscle, fluids from solids, and so on.

15 Jun 2008

Human tumor nanoparticles induce apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells

Using nanoparticles made from pieces of tumor cells, investigators from Aix-Marseille University in Marseille, France, have developed a new type of anticancer agent that appears to stop tumor cell growth and proliferation.

15 Jun 2008

Coated gold nanoparticles for drug delivery

In work that could at the same time impact the delivery of drugs and explain a biological mystery, MIT engineers have created the first synthetic nanoparticles that can penetrate a cell without poking a hole in its protective membrane and killing it.

11 Jun 2008

Magnetic nanoparticles for cancer therapy

A measuring procedure developed in the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) can help to investigate in some detail the behaviour of magnetic nanoparticles which are used for cancer therapy.

28 May 2008

Nanoworms target tumors

By linking strings of spherical iron oxide nanoparticles and coating the resulting construct with a biocompatible polymer, a multi-institutional research team has created "nanoworms" that can better target tumors and produce stronger magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signals than their component nanoparticles. The nanoworms also appear to be a promising vehicle for carrying anticancer drugs into tumors. The researchers published their work in the journal Advanced Materials.

20 May 2008

Dendrimers improve imaging with magnetic nanoparticles

Dendrimers are spherical polymer nanoparticles that have shown promise as targeted anticancer drug delivery vehicles. Iron oxide nanoparticles have already demonstrated the ability to image tumors and metastatic lesions.

20 May 2008

Mass-producing tunable magnetic nanoparticles

Taking a cue from the semiconductor industry, a team of investigators at Stanford University has developed a method of producing unlimited quantities of highly magnetic nanoparticles suitable for use as magnetic resonance tumor imaging agents.

20 May 2008

Nanoparticle-induced heating boosts antitumor radiation therapy

Radiation therapy is a time-honored and effective component of modern cancer therapy, but its ultimate utility is limited by the fact that some cancer cells are resistant to ionizing radiation.

20 May 2008

Multifunctional nanoparticles image, target, and treat tumors

Encapsulating magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles within a silica shell has yielded a new multifunctional nanoparticle that has the potential to image, target, and treat tumors with water-insoluble anticancer drugs. A report of this work appears in the journal ACS Nano.

20 May 2008

Nanoworms developed to target tumors

Scientists at UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and MIT have developed nanometer-sized "nanoworms" that can cruise through the bloodstream without significant interference from the body's immune defense system and-like tiny anti-cancer missiles-home in on tumors.

7 May 2008

Clockwork PCR including sample prep

Analysis and diagnosis in a chip format are coming of age, but their practical application has been limited because until now, the sample usually had to be prepared separately and on a nonminiaturized scale.

6 May 2008

Silver nanoparticles may kill beneficial bacteria

Too much of a good thing could be harmful to the environment. For years, scientists have known about silver's ability to kill harmful bacteria and, recently, have used this knowledge to create consumer products containing silver nanoparticles.

29 Apr 2008

Second annual Johns Hopkins NanoBio Symposium to focus on cancer

An estimated 600 experts on nanobiotechnology-a science that develops tools and machinery at the scale of one-billionth of a meter-are expected to attend the second annual Johns Hopkins NanoBio Symposium, May 1-2, 2008.

22 Apr 2008

Fluorine-based nanoparticles on track to improve cancer detection and therapy

Perfluorocarbons, a class of inert, oily polymers, have a proven track record in a variety of clinical uses, including in contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging and in eye surgery to correct a detached retina.

18 Apr 2008

Nanoparticles provide detailed view inside living 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 CCNE) has shown that it can produce whole-body images in small animals that can reveal the location of tumors and track how these nanoparticles traffic through the body.

18 Apr 2008