Category Archives: Nano Medicine

by Gwyneth K. Shaw | Jun 15, 2012 10:36 am

(NHI Nanoblog) Its become a rallying cry for some researchers who are scrutinizing the potential health and environmental effects of super-small particles: Test the products that use nanomaterials, not just the substances themselves.

A new study looking at the exposure risk of nano-enabled cosmetic powders offers a powerful validation of that argument. The researchers conclude that the hazards are different from what might be expected, given the size of the particles involved.

They also found that even the rudimentary labeling of nano-enabled products isnt always accurate: Five of the six powders contained nanoparticles, even though only three were marketed that way.

The researchers, from Rutgers University and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School-University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, predict that exposure to nanoparticles from cosmetic powders is more likely to be in the upper respiratory system, rather than in the deeper, smaller alveolar area. In other words, these products are mostly coming throughand maybe lodging inyour nose, throat and the bronchial area.

The study was published in Environmental Health Perspectives, an open-access journal put out by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Experimental studies using pure versions of nanomaterials suggested that they would migrate to the alveolar region, home of the tiny sacs that form the end of the smallest airways and where the exchange of air and carbon monoxide takes place.

Our findings on potential nanomaterial inhalation exposure due to the use of actual consumer products emphasize that properties and effects of the pure nanomaterial ingredients cannot be used to predict actual consumer exposures and resulting health effects, the authors write. Therefore, experimental techniques for toxicity studies of de facto nanotechnology-based consumer products must be developed. Results of such studies will provide guidance for the developing market of nanotechnology-based consumer products and help clarify the need and feasibility of its regulation.

Nanotechnology is a broad term that encompasses a wide variety of uses of very small materials. (A nanometer is a billionth of a meter.) These substances can make better batteries or lighter and stronger bike frames, as well as new medical instruments and medicines that can save lives. Theyre increasingly common in consumer products, from sunscreens to stain-repellent pants to boat paints that resist algae growth.

Nanomaterials are believed to hold great promise for a wide variety of applications. Their ultra-tiny size often gives them different properties, which is the basis of their appeal; scientists are struggling to figure out whether that can make them dangerous in the process, and how and why it happens.

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Women someday could protect themselves against sexually transmitted infections by using a gel that uses nanoparticles to deliver drugs to the vaginal walls, a new study in mice suggests.

Researchers used the gel to deliver an anti-herpes drug to the mice and found that the technology tripled the level of protection that the drug normally provides against aherpes infection.

It's possible the gel's protection could be made to be long-lasting, so it could be applied hours before sexual intercourse, according to the study, which appears today (June 13) in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

If the gel is found fit for human use, the composition of the gel makes it likely that a woman could use it discreetly, without her partner noticing it, the researchers added.

To see just how much the nanoparticle delivery system improved a drug's effectiveness, the researchers purposefully chose an anti-herpes medication that was not particularly effective, and a strain of herpes virus that was remarkably infectious.

"We could protect animals fairly well, with a wimpy drug, against a strong herpes infection," said study researcher Justin Hanes, director of the Center for Nanomedicine at the John Hopkins School of Medicine.

The research has yet to be tried in people, and rodent studies often don't hold up in humans. Under ideal circumstances, clinical trials of the gel could be possible within a year or two, Hanes said.

The trick to developing the gel was making the particles small enough and slick enough to get through the mucus that coats the inside of the vagina. Hanes likened the problem to a bug trying to fly through a spider web.

"There could be a bug that's small enough to fit through a spider web, but that doesn't mean it will get through without getting stuck," he said. But with small, "non-sticky" nanoparticles, the drug was evenly applied across nearly 100 percent of the vaginal surface a feat given the vagina's complex, folding walls, Hanes said.

When they applied the anti-herpesdrug to mice, the researchers found that the drug's effectiveness in preventing herpes increased from 16 percent without the nanoparticles, to 53 percent with the nanoparticles.

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STDs blocked by nano gel, study suggests

BOZEMAN, Mont.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Golden Helix has established a representative office in Japan and has selected Filgen Inc. as its exclusive distributor for the territory. Filgen will work directly with Golden Helix Japan to market and support its flagship product, SNP & Variation Suite (SVS). The software offers several packages to facilitate SNP, copy number, and next-generation sequencing data analyses.

We are excited to enter the Japanese life sciences market, as our products align with the high-quality genetic analysis work being done in Japan, said Andy Ferrin, Senior Vice-President of Business Development at Golden Helix. Having a local office supported by an experienced distributor like Filgen will enable us to better serve our customer base.

Japan has been a key area of opportunity for Golden Helix, constituting one of the countries most focused on advancing genomic studies. Having a local office will help Golden Helix take up a strong position in this important market by showing its commitment to this extremely demanding customer base, said David Leangen, the newly appointed Country Manager for Golden Helix Japan.

Says Manabu Harada, Vice-President of Filgen: Our company is one of the leading providers of life science products and services in Japan. Our customers expect a high level of quality from our offerings, and SVS fits that bill. Filgen looks forward to working with Golden Helixs representative office and is thrilled to have found a partner in this arena with such an intuitive and powerful product.

About Golden Helix

Golden Helix is a leading bioinformatics organization, specializing in sequence and array-based SNP and copy number analysis, genetic association software, and analytic services. Our innovative technologies empower scientists to determine the genetic causes of disease, transform drug discovery, develop genetic diagnostics, and advance the quest for personalized medicine. Used by hundreds of researchers at the world's top pharmaceutical, biotech, and academic research organizations, Golden Helix products and services have been cited in over 600 peer-reviewed publications. Learn more at http://www.goldenhelix.com.

About Filgen Inc.

Filgen Inc. engages in the development, manufacturing, and sales of science research equipment and provides biotechnology analysis services to the life sciences market. The company offers nano-science products, such as ultraviolet radiation ozone cleaner, spectrum osmium, dipping device, plasma film manufacture device, simple dipping device, and electron microscope trust photographing service. Filgen Inc. was founded in 2004 and is based in Nagoya, Japan. Learn more at http://www.filgen.jp.

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Golden Helix Establishes Direct Presence in Japan

Sandrine Ceurstemont, editor, New Scientist TV

If you want to make the worm turn, try using magnets. By implanting nanoparticles in nerve cells in a nematode's head, Arnd Pralle and his team from the State University of New York in Buffalo can make a wriggling worm alter its course when exposed to a magnetic field.

In this video, you can see how both a single treated worm, as well as a whole group, can quickly be triggered to change direction. A third clip shows that in the same scenario, an untreated worm doesn't alter its behaviour.

These nematodes are just one example of how living cells can be controlled remotely. By using other hosts, and implanting nanoparticles in ion channels, DNA strands or antibodies, medical treatments could be activated instantly from afar, leading to a new generation of drugs that can be set off with a smartphone app.

To find out more about recent developments in wireless medicine, read our full-length feature, Wireless medicine: Turn on, tune in, control life.

If you enjoyed this post, see how a roundworm can be stunned by UV light or watch how (contrary to what you might think) obstacles can help worms speed through an obstacle course.

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How worms are pioneering remote control medicine

June 13, 2012 11:53 AM

Asia's First Graphene Nano-Tech Facility Opens In Singapore

SINGAPORE, June 13 (Bernama) -- A S$15 million Micro and Nano-Fabrication facility has opened at the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Graphene Research Centre, the first nano-science and nano-technology facility of its kind in Asia dedicated to graphene.

The Centre, set up in August 2010 as part of the NUS Faculty of Science, is involved in projects totalling over S$100 million, and aims to be a world leader in the emerging field of graphene research.

Helmed by Professor Antonio H. Castro Neto, who is one of the world leaders in graphene research, the Centre is set up under scientific advising by Professors Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, from Manchester University in the UK and winners of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of graphene.

NUS President Professor Tan Chorh Chuan said: "Graphene is one of the most interesting and promising materials of our time although its unique properties have yet to be fully explored.

"We look forward to seeing novel discoveries and innovative breakthroughs emerge from the Centre, putting Singapore in the forefront of research in revolutionary new materials."

There is an intense global drive towards graphene commercialisation. Graphene grown by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) could be a game changer in the industry of transparent conductive coatings (TCC) essential for the modern display, lighting touch panel, and photovoltaic industries. This market is expected to reach annually US$55 billion by 2020.

Solution-processed graphene is expected to have a major impact on batteries, catalysts and composite materials, reaching a projected market value of US$675 million in 2020.

Neto said: "Our research addresses immediate growth, synthesis, transfer and doping problems of existing approaches. We aim to break current technological bottlenecks for industry adoption by meeting the industrial benchmarks of conductivity and optical transparency for graphene and by improving size and conductivity of graphene flakes from solution at a low cost.

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Asia's First Graphene Nano-Tech Facility Opens In Singapore

Atherosclerosis, resulting in a narrowing of the arteries and the development of cardiovascular disease, is the leading cause of death worldwide. Until now, no treatment could target diseased areas exclusively, in order to increase drug efficacy and reduce side effects. To help bridge this gap, a group of Swiss researchers from UNIGE, HUG and the University of Basel have developed a veritable 'time bomb,' a treatment that can recognize the diseased areas and treat only them.

In Switzerland, more than 20,000 people (37% of all deaths) die of cardiovascular disease caused by atherosclerosis each year. Treatment options are currently available to people who suffer from the disease but no drug can target solely the diseased areas, often leading to generalized side effects. Intravenous injection of a vasodilator (a substance that dilates blood vessels), such as nitroglycerin, dilates both the diseased vessels and the rest of our arteries. Blood pressure can thus drop, which would limit the desired increased blood flow generated by vasodilatation of diseased vessels and needed for example during a heart attack.

In order to increase the effectiveness of treatments against atherosclerosis and to reduce side effects, a team of researchers from UNIGE, HUG and the University of Basel have developed nanocontainers having the ability to release their vasodilator content exclusively to diseased areas.

Nanotechnology in medicine

Though no biomarker specific to atherosclerosis has been identified, there is a physical phenomenon inherent to stenosis (the narrowing of blood vessels) known as shear stress. This force results from fluctuations in blood flow induced by the narrowing of the artery and runs parallel to the flow of blood. It is by making use of this phenomenon that the team of researchers has developed a veritable time bomb, a nanocontainer which, under pressure from the shear stress in stenosed arteries, will release its vasodilator contents.

By rearranging the structure of certain molecules (phospholipids) in classic nanocontainers such as liposome, scientists were able to give them a lenticular shape as opposed to the normal spherical shape. In the form of a lens, the nanocontainer then moves through the healthy arteries without breaking. This new nanocontainer is perfectly stable, except when subjected to the shear stress of stenosed arteries. And that's exactly the intention of this technological advance. The vasodilator content is distributed only to the stenotic arteries, significantly increasing the efficacy of the treatment and reducing side effects. "In brief, we exploited a previously unexplored aspect of an existing technology. This research offers new perspectives in the treatment of patients with cardiovascular disease," explains Andreas Zumbuehl from the Department of Organic Chemistry at UNIGE.

"Nanomedicine is a discipline stemming from general nanoscience but which orients itself towards medical research. The interdisciplinary collaboration between chemistry, physics, basic science and clinical medicine in a highly technical environment could lead to a new era of research," states Till Saxer of the Cardiology and General Internal Medicine Departments at HUG.

"The nano component is present in all disciplines, but the most interesting aspect of nanomedicine is its overview allowing the development of clinical products that integrate this global medical point of view from the earliest onset of research projects," states Bert Mller, Director of the Biomaterials Science Centre (BMC) at Basel.

When chemistry gets involved

How did scientists manage to change the shape of the nanocontainers so that they resemble a lens? By rearranging the structure of molecules, chemists at UNIGE replaced the ester bond that links the two parts of the phospholipid (head and tail), with an amide bond, an organic compound that promotes interaction among phospholipids. Once modified, the molecules are hydrated then heated to form a liquid sphere which will relax to solidify in the form of a lens upon cooling.

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Nanotechnologists develop a 'time bomb' to fight cardiovascular disease