NanomedicineCenter.com

Nanoparticles are safe after all

Nanoparticles have outstanding properties, especially as far as illuminating tiny tumors or precisely delivering drugs is concerned. However, many have feared that they aren’t safe for use in humans, but it seems that they were wrong. Researchers from the University of California in San Diego created the first nanoparticle that has minimum toxic side effects.

Many nanoparticles that were designed so far are toxic and aren’t safe at all to use in humans. However, this one has almost no side effects. “This new design meets a growing need for non-toxic alternatives that have a chance to make it into the clinic to treat human patients,” said Michael Sailor, the leader of the research crew.

The scientists from San Diego tested their nanoparticles in mice, and saw tumors glow for several hours, then dim as the particles broke down. Levels dropped noticeably in a week and were undetectable after four weeks. Luminescent particles can reveal tumors too tiny to detect by other means or allow a surgeon to be sure all of a cancerous growth has been removed. These nanoparticles could also improve the drug delivery process. The cancer drug doxorubicin will stick to the pores and slowly escape as the silicon dissolves.
“The goal is to use the nanoparticles to chaperone the drug directly to the tumor, to release it into the tumor rather than other parts of the body,” said Sailor.

The details are published in Nature Materials.

Adapted from materials found at ucsd.edu

Nanoparticles can stop tumors from spreading

“Nanoparticles are amazing,” said one nanomedicine expert. Primarily because of their size, they can be used to treat various diseases. The latest research done at Hopkins, the University of Washington and the National Cancer Institute has shown that nanoparticles can both inhibit the invasion of healthy cells by tumor cells and simultaneously serve as an agent that provides contrast for MRIs, allowing the cancerous areas to be imaged as therapy is administered. Chlorotoxin does it all. That is a small protein, which is an integral part of a nanoparticle.

The research was done by using glioma tumor cells. Scientists managed to prove that nanoparticles which contain chlorotoxin can inhibit tumor from spreading.

Source: jhunewsletter.com

Glowing nanoparticles show where the tumor is

Nanoparticles that glow can significantly help surgeons to see where the actual tumor is, thus making it relatively easy for them to remove it. These nanoparticles are called Cornell Dots (or C Dots). Originally, Cornell Dots were created by Hooisweng Ow, a graduate student at Cornell.

Scientists from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center performed a research which showed that C dots are safe to use, and small enough to be easily transported across the body.
A C Dot is made out of several dye molecules encased in a silica shell that can be as small as five nanometers in diameter. The silica shell, essentially glass, is chemically inert. C Dots get coated with polyethylene glycol which actually protects them from being recognized by the body as foreign substances, giving them more time to find targeted tumors. The cluster of dye molecules in a single dot fluoresces under infrared light much more brightly than single dye molecules, showing a surgeon exactly what needs to be cut out.

“Highly sensitive and specific probes and molecular imaging strategies are critical to ensure the earliest possible detection of a tumor and timely response to treatment,” said Michelle Bradbury, the leading researcher.

The details are published in Nano Letters.

Source: news.cornell.edu