Longevity science

A newly developed network of nanoscale particles can maintain normal blood sugar levels for more than a week by releasing insulin when blood-sugar levels rise.

This system could help type I diabetics replace insulin injections and monitoring.

Scientists at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute have found a possible way to fool the immune system to prevent it from recognizing and destroying nanoparticles before they deliver their drug payloads.

“Our goal was to make a particle that is camouflaged within our bodies and escapes the surveillance of the immune system to reach its target undiscovered,” said Department of Medicine Co-Chair Ennio Tasciotti, Ph.D., the study’s principal investigator.

Manchester scientists have developed a tiny molecular machine that mirrors the function of the ribosome, which builds the proteins in our body's cells.

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The ultimate goal is to synthesize new drug molecules or new types of plastic.

Heart attack and stroke-causing plaque deposits in the arteries are typically preceded by an inflammation of the arteries in those same areas. Therefore, if doctors could be aware of those inflamed regions before plaque deposits formed and problems such as chest pains arose, a lot of hardship could potentially be avoided. Well, that soon may be possible, thanks to some tiny bubbles.

In tests conducted at the University of Missouri’s College of Veterinary Medicine, assistant teaching professor Isabelle Masseau started out with perfluorocarbon gas-containing, lipid-shelled “micro-bubbles.” Each of those bubbles measured just two to three microns in diameter.

One result of the side effects of cancer treatments is that patients often can’t tolerate or survive a combination of different drugs at the same time — which can limit a doctor’s ability to knock out the disease.

The head of a Boston-area biotech called Cerulean Therapeutics thinks the solution is nanoparticle-delivered drugs, which have fewer and less severe side effects. They could make it easier for doctors to mount a multipronged attack on tumors and kill the cells before they can develop a resistance to any one compound.

A pioneering study to gauge the toxicity of quantum dots in primates has found the tiny luminescent crystals are safe over a one-year period, a hopeful outcome for doctors and scientists seeking new ways to battle diseases like cancer through nanomedicine.

In the study, scientists found that four rhesus monkeys injected with cadmium-selenide quantum dots remained in normal health over 90 days. Blood and biochemical markers stayed in typical ranges, and major organs developed no abnormalities. The animals didn’t lose weight. Two monkeys observed for an additional year also showed no signs of illness.

A degradable nanoscale shell to carry proteins to cancer cells and stunt the growth of tumors without damaging healthy cells has been developed by a team led by researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Tiny shells (about 100 nanometers in length, roughly half the size of the smallest bacterium) are composed of a water-soluble polymer that safely delivers a protein complex to the nucleus of cancer cells to induce their death. The shells degrade harmlessly in non-cancerous cells.

The process does not present the risk of genetic mutation posed by gene therapies for cancer, or the risk to healthy cells caused by chemotherapy, which does not effectively discriminate between healthy and cancerous cells, said Yi Tang, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA.

Northwestern Medicine researchers have developed a nanoparticle that attacks a cancerous lymphoma cell by mimicking HDL.(high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, an essential nutrient for the cell.

The nanoparticle tricks the cell by blocking cholesterol from entering the cell. Deprived of an essential nutrient, the cell eventually dies.

LONDON (Reuters) - When it comes to protecting millions of people from deadly infectious diseases, Mark Kendall thinks a fingertip-sized patch covered in thousands of vaccine-coated microscopic spikes...

A magnetic capsule robot may replace endoscopy thanks to work being done at Carnegie Mellon University's Nanorobotics lab.

The lab has received funding to develop a squishy robotic capsule that can be controlled while inside the body. The capsule could replace invasive endoscopes by performing camera imaging, drug injection, tissue sampling, and more.

FDA-approved pill cameras have been in use since 2001, but they can only perform imaging, and move through the body naturally. Robotic devices would have the ability to to stop, back up, deliver drugs, or perform biopsies.

Newly-developed nanoparticles are able to emit light through up to three centimeters of biological tissue.

Scientists have developed photoluminescent nanoparticles that are able to shine through over three centimeters (1.2 inches) of biological tissue. If attached to anomalies deep beneath the skin, the nanoparticles could allow those anomalies to be seen more clearly from the outside.

MIT researchers have developed RNA-delivering nanoparticles that allow for rapid screening of new drug targets in mice.

By sequencing cancer-cell genomes, scientists have discovered vast numbers of genes that are mutated, deleted or copied in cancer cells. This treasure trove is a boon for researchers seeking new drug targets, but it is nearly impossible to test them all in a timely fashion.

Researchers have now reported that the use of quantum dots - tiny luminescent crystals that can be used to monitor disease at a cellular level - appears to be safe in primates over a one-year period.

"Researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital have developed a new category of non-toxic, protein-based green nanoparticles that can non-invasively cross the blood brain barrier and transport various types of drugs."

The particles "crossed and/or bypassed the blood-brain barrier without enhancers or modifications, unlike other nanoparticles. These findings open the door to exploring..."