Nanotools against cancer

It has proved difficult to channel pharmaceuticals into the brain. A type of cell barrier protects the brain from pathogens and many harmful molecules. This blood-brain barrier also denies access to many therapeutic substances.
Studies have shown that nanoparticles (diameter between 10 and 1000 nm) with distinct surface properties can overcome this barrier.
At the University of Frankfurt am Main, a team headed by Prof. Dr. Jörg Kreuter is successfully working on transfering substances into the brain with the aid of microscopically small plastic spheres.
Magnetic nanoparticles could also be of use in combating cancer, as shown by the so-called magnetic liquid hyperthermia developed by Dr. Andreas Jordan and co-workers at the Charite Hospital in Berlin: Firstly, iron oxide particles are selectively transported into the carcinoma. Then, an alternating magnetic field heats the nanoparticles and thus the cancer cells, which are killed by overheating.

Inhaling bubbles of nano iron Oxide to fight lung cancer

Inhalation, or respiratory, therapy is a fairly old discipline of medicine that dates back to ancient times (and not always for purely therapeutic effects; witness the hookah). In the late 18th century, earthenware inhalers became popular for the inhalation of air drawn through infusions of plants and other ingredients and about 50 years ago the first pressurized metered dose inhaler was put on the market. Especially people suffering from asthma are very familiar with inhalers - devices that help deliver a specific amount of medication to the lungs. The delivery of drugs via the pulmonary route is a potentially effective form of therapy not only for asthma but also for for patients with other chronic diseases, including the debilitating hereditary disease, cystic fibrosis, type I diabetes (insulin is absorbed well through the lungs), and recently lung cancer. During inhalation therapy the drugs are delivered in aerosol form, meaning that very small particles of the drug are suspended in air (liquid particles make mist, solid particles make fume or dust). Unfortunately, state the-of-the-art aerosol delivery technologies do not allow to target aerosols to specific regions of the lung. Researchers in Germany now have show that aerosols containing magnetic nanoparticles can be guided inside the lungs and thus offer a potential new route for lung cancer treatment.
Current aerosol delivery techniques only allow to target aerosol deposition in the central lung regions or lung periphery but not focused to desired lung regions. A new research effort by German researchers was designed to provide a potentially new technology to close this gap and to offer potentially more gentle treatment options for patients suffering from severe lung diseases such as lung cancer. At first glance it might seem weird that lung cancer, which very often is caused by inhaling carcinogenic particles found in polluted air and tobacco smoke, can be treated by just inhaling some more particles. Although aerosol therapy does work to some degree (" Aerosol Therapy for Malignancy Involving the Lungs"), as with all other current cancer drug therapies there are side effects caused by the administered drugs' damage to healthy tissue.
"Being able to target specific areas in the lung with cancer drug aerosols would avoid potential drug-related site effects in healthy tissue "Dr. Carsten Rudolph explains,"We were able to demonstrate theoretically by computer-aided simulation and for the first time experimentally in mice, that targeted aerosol delivery to the lung can be achieved with aerosol droplets comprising superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs), so-called nanomagnetosols, in combination with a target-directed magnetic gradient field."
Rudolph, together with colleagues from various universities in Munich and Berlin, and other institutions across Germany, shows that with their technique, higher doses of drugs can be delivered to the cancerous region without increasing side effects ("Targeted delivery of magnetic aerosol droplets to the lung").

nanothermite in drug delivery

The researchers explain that nanothermite composites, made of metallic fuel and inorganic oxidizer, have “outstanding” combustion characteristics. Mixing a low-density composite of copper oxide nanorods (fuel) and aluminum nanoparticles (oxidizer) results in a large contact area between the fuel and oxidizer. On the nanoscale, the low density and large contact area of the nanothermite composite can lead to a fast-propagating combustion.
The team tested the combustion in a shock tube studded with optical fibers and pressure sensors to measure the combustion wave speed. They found that the nano composites could generate combustion waves with velocities ranging from 1500 to 2300 meters per second, which is in the Mach 3 range. The power of these nano explosives could lead to a breakthrough in drug delivery for cancer and HIV, the researchers explain. First, drugs would be administered with a needle as usual, dispersing through the entire body. But then a hand-held device aimed at the tumor would send a pulse into the tumor. The shock waves created by the pulse would make tiny holes in the cells it was aimed at, allowing the drug to enter the tumor cells. Further, the force of the shock waves would push the drugs to those cells within milliseconds. The researchers have tested the method on animal tissue, and have demonstrated a 99% success rate – almost all of the cells have properly accepted the drugs. Healthy cells, on the other hand, demonstrate much fewer side effects than with conventional treatments such as chemotherapy. As Gangopadhyay explains, the nano explosives have some different characteristics than conventional explosives. “In conventional explosives, shock waves are generated during detonation,” she says. “In nanothermites, fast propagating chemical reactions can create shock waves without detonation.” Generating shock waves without detonation is the key to this technology, she says. If everything goes well, the researchers hope to have the device ready to use in two to five years. Besides biomedical applications, the nano explosives could be useful in other areas, such as geology and seismology. Originally, the technology was used in the Army for IED (improvised explosive device) detection, where shock waves sent into the ground could give an image of what lies beneath.

Nanoparticles, Proteins, and Nucleic Acids: Biotechnology Meets Materials Science

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Based on fundamental chemistry, biotechnology and materials science have developed over the past three decades into today's powerful disciplines which allow the engineering of advanced technical devices and the industrial production of active substances for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. This review is focused on current approaches emerging at the intersection of materials research, nanosciences, and molecular biotechnology. This novel and highly interdisciplinary field of chemistry is closely associated with both the physical and chemical properties of organic and inorganic nanoparticles, as well as to the various aspects of molecular cloning, recombinant DNA and protein technology, and immunology. Evolutionary optimized biomolecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, and supramolecular complexes of these components, are utilized in the production of nanostructured and mesoscopic architectures from organic and inorganic materials. The highly developed instruments and techniques of today's materials research are used for basic and applied studies of fundamental biological processes

Iron Oxide in heart ailments

A heart attack is caused by the formation of cholesterol plaque located on the inner-walls of an artery to the heart (coronary artery). Cholesterol is a fatty chemical, a lipid in nature. Plaque formation partially or entirely occludes the artery obstructing flow of blood, thereby hampering the functioning of circulatory system. By-pass surgery is a surgical technique where a by-pass is created over the region where the plaque is formed to provide an additional route through which blood can flow in spite of the plaque occluded artery. The main objective is to remove this atherosclerotic plaque via use of electric current induced heating effect using the biocompatible iron-oxide nano-particles. The iron-oxide nano-particles of 8-20 nm in size are synthesized by co-precipitation method, where varying the pH and temperature in an aqueous solution controls the particle size and self-assembly properties. These nano-particles, enveloped in specific biocompatible polymer, are to be delivered at most 1 cm before the site of the plaque formation, where the blood flow is toward the plaque. The site-specific delivery is to be done using infusion pump. The nano-particles shall get dislodged from the enveloped molecule and shall get attached to the plaque. In presence of external magnetic field (similar to that of MRI) the super paramagnetic bio-compatible iron-oxide particles generates flow of electricity through the plaque, which may correspondingly exhibit a heat induced melting of the plaque. Hence a therapeutic procedure followed using this technique shall result in at least 60-70% removal of the atherosclerotic occlusion