Category Archives: Nanotechnology

By Barry Copping

Posted 30 August 2012

Curcumin from turmeric features in novel drug formulation

In a double benefit from nanotechnology, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (HCCNE) have created a polymer nanoparticle that overcomes the resistance of tumours to the common anticancer agent doxorubicin.

It also protects the heart against drug-triggered damage, a therapy-ending side effect that limits doxorubicins effectiveness. The nanoparticle incorporates both doxorubicin and curcumin, a major component of the bright yellow spice turmeric.

The work was led by Anirban Maitra. Recent studies had shown that high doses of curcumin could overcome the resistance to multiple anticancer agents that many, if not most, tumours develop over time. However curcumin is only poorly soluble in the bloodstream, so getting high enough levels of the agent to tumours was challenging.

Maitras approach to solving this problem was to use polymer nanoparticles to deliver curcumin to tumours. The teams latest paper describes how both in vitro and animal tests demonstrated that a dual curcumin/doxorubicin formulation showed striking anticancer activity in models of multiple myeloma, leukaemia, prostate cancer and ovarian cancer.

Perhaps equally important, the animals treated with the nanoparticle did not experience any cardiac toxicity or bone marrow suppression. This was the case even at cumulative doses that normally trigger cardiac toxicity by free doxorubicin or liposome-encapsulated doxorubicin. These were the first two nanoparticle drug formulations approved for use in treating cancer in humans; they are widely used in treating breast cancer. Further examination of the heart-protecting characteristics of the dual formulation showed that encapsulating doxorubicin in a polymer nanoparticle spared heart muscle cells from the oxidative stress normally triggered by doxorubicin.

The work is reported in the peer-reviewed journal Oncotarget.

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Polymer nanoparticle averts anti-cancer drug resistance

Public release date: 29-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Zenaida Kotala zenaida.kotala@ucf.edu 407-823-6120 University of Central Florida

A University of Central Florida assistant professor has developed a new material using nanotechnology, which could help keep pilots and sensitive equipment safe from destructive lasers.

UCF Assistant Professor Jayan Thomas, in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University Associate Professor Rongchao Jin chronicle their work in the July issue of the journal Nano Letters. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl301988v)

Thomas is working with gold nanoparticles and studying their properties when they are shrunk into a small size regime called nanoclusters. Nanoparticles are already microscopic in size, and a nanometer is about 1/80000 of the thickness of a single strand of human hair. Nanoclusters are on the small end and nanocrystals are on the larger end of the nanoregime. Nano clusters are so small that the laws of physics that govern the world people touch and smell aren't often observed.

"Nanoclusters occupy the intriguing quantum size regime between atoms and nanocrystals, and the synthesis of ultra-small, atomically precise metal nanoclusters is a challenging task," Thomas said.

Thomas and his team found that nanoclusters developed by adding atoms in a sequential manner could provide interesting optical properties. It turns out that the gold nanoclusters exhibit qualities that may make them suitable for creating surfaces that would diffuse laser beams of high energy. They appear to be much more effective than its big sister, gold nanocrystal which is the (nano) material used by artists to make medieval church window paintings.

So why does it matter?

Think of commercial pilots or fighter pilots. They use sunglasses or helmet shields to protect their eyes from the sun's light. If the glasses or helmet shield could be coated with nanoclusters tested in Thomas' lab at UCF, the shield could potentially diffuse high-energy beams of light, such as laser. Highly sensitive instruments needed for navigation and other applications could also be protected in case of an enemy attack using high energy laser beams.

"These results give me great pleasure since the technique we used to study the optical properties of these atomically precise particle is one invented by UCF Professors Eric VanStryland and David Hagan many years ago," Thomas said. "But the progression we've made is very exciting."

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Breakthrough in nanotechnology

Under attack: policemen stand guard outside the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education after a letter bomb exploded there in August 2011.

A. FRANCO/AP/PRESS ASSOCIATION IMAGES

The shoe-box-sized package was addressed to Armando Herrera Corral. It stated that he was the recipient of an award and it was covered in official-looking stamps. Herrera, a computer scientist at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in Mexico City, shook the box a number of times, and something solid jiggled inside. What could it be? He was excited and a little nervous so much so, that he walked down the hall to the office of a colleague, robotics researcher Alejandro Aceves Lpez, and asked Aceves to open it for him.

Aceves sat down at his desk to tear the box open. So when the 20-centimetre-long pipe bomb inside exploded, on 8 August 2011, Aceves took the full force in his chest. Metal pierced one of his lungs. He was in intensive care. He was really bad, says Herrera's brother Gerardo, a theoretical physicist at the nearby Centre for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (Cinvestav). Armando Herrera Corral, who was standing nearby when the bomb went off, escaped with a burst eardrum and burns to his legs.

The next day, an eco-anarchist group calling itself Individuals Tending Towards Savagery (ITS) claimed responsibility for the bombing in a 5,500-word diatribe against nanotechnology that it published online. Police found a charred copy of a similar text in the detritus of the explosion. The bombers said that Herrera had been targeted for his role as director of the technology-transfer centre at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (commonly known as Monterrey Tec), one of the major universities that has staked everything on the development of nanotechnology. The text talked of the potential for the field to cause environmental nanocontamination, and concluded that technology and civilization as a whole should be held responsible for any environmental catastrophe. Chillingly, the bombers listed another five researchers at Monterrey Tec as presumptive targets, as well as a further six universities.

Reporter Leigh Phillips talks about anti-science violence in Mexico.

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The incident had precedent. The ITS had already claimed responsibility for bomb attacks in April and May 2011, both targeting Carlos Alberto Camacho Olgun, head of engineering and nanotechnology at the Polytechnic University of the Valley of Mexico in Tultitln. The first bomb wounded a security guard; the second was identified and disposed of before anyone could be hurt. Last December, the group struck again this time at the Polytechnic University of Pachuca, where a package containing gunpowder exploded in the hand of a teacher, causing minor burns (see 'A litany of letter bombs'). No other developing country has suffered a comparable string of anti-technology attacks.

One year on from the bombing at Monterrey Tec, the repercussions are still being felt. Armando Herrera Corral and Aceves will not speak to Nature about what happened. It's too sensitive, you understand? is all Aceves would say. Herrera has left his job as director of the university's technology park and is now head of postgraduate studies. Other Mexican universities with nanotechnology research programmes have evacuated campuses in response to bomb threats, and universities across the country have introduced stringent security measures. Some researchers are anxious for their own safety; some are furious about being targets. But all the researchers that Nature spoke to in Mexico are adamant that the attacks will not discourage them from their research or dissuade students from entering the field.

So far, there has been little explanation of where the vitriol is coming from. Why are radical environmental groups targeting nanotechnology? Is this field being confronted with the same sort of militant hostility that has dogged genetic-modification research and animal testing? And why Mexico?

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Nanotechnology: Armed resistance

It is important to focus on nanotechnology field

The fifth edition of Bangalore Nano, the annual nanotechnology conference-cum-trade show organised by the Karnataka government, will be held on December 6 and 7.

C.N.R. Rao, scientific adviser to the Prime Minister, said that it was a matter of pride that his city, Bangalore, was at the forefront of leading and nurturing innovation in the field of nanotechnology. He spoke about his visit to Israel where he met a young researcher who wanted to use exhaled air and analyse molecules to detect cancer. Years later, Prof. Rao got to know that the researcher came up with a product called the nano nose that helps detect cancer. Such are the possibilities of nanotechnology, and this is why it is important to focus on this emerging field, he said.

Criticising the resistance among academia to collaborate on research work, Prof. Rao said that working together is imperative to move forward.

Nano, a game changer

Chief Secretary S.V. Ranganath said that Karnataka has taken an early lead in science and technology, and compared the nanotechnology scene now to what IT was two decades ago. Nano is going to be a game changer, and it presents a unique challenge as it applies across disciplines. He said that Karnataka has 396 research and development organisations and over 2,100 IT companies, and that over 40 per cent of software exports come from here.

The two-day event includes several plenary sessions on healthcare and medicine, aerospace and defence, electronics, food and agriculture, energy and environment, water management solutions and advanced materials.

The event organisers claim that over 100 leading international and domestic companies are slated to participate. A poster presentation session will display at least 120 posters, and 450 graduate level students will attend the event. As part of the conference, the Research Industry Collaboration Hub will be organised.

The pre-event schedule includes a pre-conference tutorial session on December 5 for delegates.

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Fifth edition of Bangalore Nano on December 6, 7

Nanotechnology for food and other industries is receiving strong support in the Basque region of Spain, with cash being channelled to researchers through the EU Framework 7 research funding programme.

Thats according to Dr Yolanda de Miguel, research and development project manager working on nanostructured and eco-efficient materialsat Tecnalia Research & Innovations construction unit, sustainable development divisin.

The group is exploring a wide variety of pan industry studies, including nanotechnology, which de Miguel told FoodNavigator has broad applications for the food industry.

Some scientists are looking at ways of using nanotechnology to block cholesterol from entering the bloodstream. Others are looking at applying it to the area of food safety, using antimicrobial coatings for work surfaces.

'Bettering packaging'

Others are exploring its potential for use in packaging materials to extendproductshelf life, for example.Its being explored in bettering packagingby increasing its oxygen-barrier properties,"saidDr. de Miguel.

Major food brands such as Nestl, Unilever, Kraft and Heinz were known to be investigating nanotechnology and the Basque research would help support such endeavours, she said.

One of her major areas of focusat present is developingnano-coatingsfor different types ofsurfaces,which would in a sense make them self-cleaning. The coatings use nanoparticles of titanium dioxide, which at that size become translucent and react with oxygenand water moleculesin air to release high energy radicals, which destroy the cell wall of harmful microbes.These hydroxyl radicalswill alsodegradeorganic material on the surface, which meansthat the surfacestays clean for longer,said de Miguel.

Hydrophilic

Coating nanoparticlesof titanium dioxideonto a given surface can also make it hydrophilic, whichmeans water canbe used more easily to washit,plusthe surface does not show water droplets remaining on it as the droplets run easily off them.

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Basque region backs nanotechnology research

Category: Science & Technology Posted: August 27, 2012 10:57AM Author: Guest_Jim_*

Nanotechnology takes many forms, as it can offer special electrical and optical properties, just based on the patterns and materials used. Precisely making these patterns, however, is quite difficult in part because the patterned films involved often have defects. These defects also make measuring the properties of the nanotechnology device difficult to accurately measure. Now researchers at MIT have discovered a way to create these patterns in the film without any defects.

It turns out what the researchers needed was to coat the silicon dioxide substrate with a polymer, which the nanocrystals and films could attach to. Essentially the polymer provided a foundation the nanocrystals would stay on, whereas the silicon dioxide would not always hold them in place, which caused the defects. Luckily testing to make of these structures sped up greatly once they started working with devices that operate in the visible part of the spectrum. Instead of having to look at it with a microscope, they could just see if it was emitting light correctly.

This discovery could impact not only optical systems but electrical as well. While the nanostructures can be tuned to respond to any frequency, the researchers found that the electrical conductivity of their defect free films was actually 180 times greater than the imperfect films made by more conventional means.

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Precise Patterning of Nanocrystal Films Achieved