Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston have created drug-loaded nanoparticles made from sugar molecules that reprogrammed tumor associated macrophages into an anti-cancer phenotype that, combined with immune checkpoint blockade, caused tumor regression and increased survival in various mouse cancer models. The nanoparticles were made from cyclodextrin (a sugar molecule) cross-linked […]
Tag: Nanomedicine
New Nanopackaging for Chemo Agents for Targeted Killing of Tumors
Chemotherapy works differently in children than adults, sometimes in surprising ways. Researchers at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed special nanoscale packaging for Dasatinib (aka SPRYCEL), a chemo agent. Working with colleagues at the Hospital Sant Joan de Deu-Barcelona, they showed that using their packaging to deliver the chemo agent into mouse models with pediatric sarcomas, that […]
Ultrasound-Powered Nanorobots to Remove Bacteria and Toxins from Blood
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed cell-like nanorobots that can clear bacteria and bacterial toxins from blood. The tiny bots are powered by ultrasound and they could pave the way for nanorobotic systems that can decontaminate biological fluids or even clear infections in the body. Despite being 25 times smaller than […]
Tiny Chemical Factories Inside Body to Produce Drugs On-Demand
Many diseases and conditions can be treated with timely delivery of specific drugs, but it’s often unknown at the time when the drug is needed. Additionally, many drugs are difficult to manufacture in a factory, but some of those can be manufactured easier with the help of the very body needing these medicine. Overcoming these […]
Topical Skin Lotion to Detect Variety of Disease Biomarkers
Scientists at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have developed a new way of utilizing nanotechnology to detect important biomarkers within the skin using what looks like a simple lotion. Their NanoFlares, which are spherical, programmable nano-scale balls of nucleic acid, have gold cores. These NanoFlares are able to penetrate the skin and meet up with biochemicals […]
Metal Based Detector of Dopamine Receptors May Help Identify Early Signs of Cancer
At Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), researchers have created the first metal-based probes for spotting dopamine receptors. While dopamine is best known as a neurotransmitter that plays a major role in defining our mood, dopamine receptors seem to be related to certain cancers. To study this relationship, a technique that can work on living animals […]
Easy Method of Separating Chiral Drug Molecules Discovered
The chiral difference between two molecules often plays a huge role in pharmacology and physiology, even though the two seem nearly identical. The difference, simply that they’re mirror images of each other, turns out to mean, for example, that some molecules of thalidomide cure morning sickness while their chiral twins lead to deformed children being […]
Thousands of Tiny Microfluidic Chips Create Perfectly Sized Drug Particles
While a drug’s chemical makeup determines what impact it will have on the body (pharmacodynamics), it is often the shell that it’s encapsulated in that defines how fast the drug will be released, the location of that release, and even how how the release can be triggered externally (pharmacokinetics). Allowing drug designers to tune such […]
Mathematicians Create Computer Simulation of Burn Wounds to Improve Treatment
A team of mathematicians has been working on improving how special microbeads can be used to stop bacterial infestations of burn wounds. Microbeads coated with a protein used by bacteria to stick to cells seem to make the bacteria bind less to the living cells nearby. In order to magnify this effect, the mathematical team […]
Mathematicians Create Computer Simulation of Burn Wounds to Improve Treatment
A team of mathematicians has been working on improving how special microbeads can be used to stop bacterial infestations of burn wounds. Microbeads coated with a protein used by bacteria to stick to cells seem to make the bacteria bind less to the living cells nearby. In order to magnify this effect, the mathematical team […]
Fluorescent Particles Bind to Cancer Cells to Spot and Diagnose Tumors
Mammograms have become extremely useful in identifying suspect lesions that may be cancer, but biopsies are still required to actually find out whether the tissue is cancerous. Researchers at University of Michigan have developed a molecule, which can be delivered in pill form, that connects to cell surface receptors on certain types of cancer cells. […]
Brain’s Mysteries May Be Revealed with MIT’s Neuron Activity Sensor
Functional MRI (fMRI) imaging has provided an amazing look into the activities happening inside the brain. Specifically, it allows scientists to study intra cerebral blood flow under the scalp, which is indicative of the goings-on of neurons in the vicinity of the flowing blood. Therefore this is an indirect measurement, which is a pretty crude […]
Bacteria Carrying Red Blood Cells as Microswimmers to Deliver Drugs Inside Body
Man-made nano and micro particles are a dime a dozen these days, with all sorts of mechanisms built-in to deliver drugs, help spot cancer, and destroy tumors. Now researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany have developed a much more natural approach, combining red blood cells with bacteria to ferry cargoes rapidly […]
Bacteria Carrying Red Blood Cells as Microswimmers to Deliver Drugs Inside Body
Man-made nano and micro particles are a dime a dozen these days, with all sorts of mechanisms built-in to deliver drugs, help spot cancer, and destroy tumors. Now researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany have developed a much more natural approach, combining red blood cells with bacteria to ferry cargoes rapidly […]
Remote-Controlled Signal Activates T Cells for Cancer Immunotherapy
Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a technique to remotely activate genetically-modified T cells to attack cancer. The method employs a near-infrared laser that heats gold nanorods present in the tumor, causing local heating. This heat activates the T cells, making them more aggressive in killing cancer cells. Immunotherapies, such as T cell therapy, hold […]
Anti-Microbial Nanotechnology: Interview with Adrian Fellows, Head of R&D at AGA Nanotech
AGA Nanotech, a medtech company based in the UK, has developed nanotechnologies aimed at overcoming antimicrobial resistance, with a view to offering an alternative to conventional antibiotics. The company has collaborated with researchers from University College London to create poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles that can deliver highly oxidative biocides, using a Thermally Induced Phase Separation […]
Disease-Responsive Hydrogel Can Release Drug During Arthritis Flares
Researchers at the Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed a disease-responsive hydrogel for anti-inflammatory drug delivery. The hydrogel could be injected into joints in patients with inflammatory arthritis for long-term local treatment. The gel breaks down in response to enzymes that are increased in an inflamed joint during an arthritis flare, meaning that it […]
Hybrid Nanoparticles Reassemble on Cancer Cells and Glow to Point Their Location
At the University of Southern California researchers have developed a hybrid nanoprobe for spotting the presence of live cancer cells by amplifying a chemical biomarker often found on cell’s surface. The team’s nanoprobe comes together when two gold nanoparticles, each containing one half of a fluorescent protein and that hone in on tumors, meet on […]
Sugar-Coated Nanosheets Can Selectively Bind Pathogens
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed sugar-coated ultrathin self-assembling nanosheets that can selectively bind to pathogens, and which have potential to serve as a diagnostic technology or a way to inactivate pathogens. The researchers developed the structures using bioinspired synthetic polymers, known as peptoids, which can self-assemble to […]
Bacteria Coerced to 3D Print Nanocellulose Implants
In a quest to make more realistic, safer, and personalizable tissue replacement implants, bacterial cellulose nanofibers are being looked on as a viable material. They are naturally biocompatible, biodegradable, withstand heat well, and have physical properties similar to many of our tissues, when composed into larger objects. Bacterial cellulose nanofibers are produced by aerobic bacteria […]