NanoComputer

University of Florida researchers have developed a “DNA nanotrain” that fast-tracks its payload of cancer-fighting drugs and bioimaging agents to tumor cells deep within the body. The nanotrain’s ability to cost-effectively deliver high doses of drugs to precisely targeted cancers and other medical maladies without leaving behind toxic nano-clutter has been the elusive Holy Grail for scientists studying the teeny-tiny world of DNA nanotechnology.

“Most nanotechnology relies on a nanoparticle approach, and the particles are made of inorganic materials; after they’ve been used as a carrier for the drug, they’ll be left inside the body,” said the study’s lead investigator, Weihong Tan, a UF distinguished professor of chemistry, professor of physiology and functional genomics, and a member of the UF Shands Cancer Center and the UF Genetics Institute. “Compared to existing nanostructures, our nanotrain is easier and cheaper to make, is highly specific to cancer cells, has a lot of drug-loading power and is very much biocompatible.”

DNA nanotechnology holds great promise as a new way to deliver chemotherapy directly to cancer cells, but until now, scientists have not been able to direct nanotherapies to consistently differentiate cancer cells from healthy ones. Other limiting factors include high costs, too-small amounts of drugs delivered and potential toxic side effects.
Source: http://news.ufl.edu/

A research team lead by Dr Peixuan Guo from the University of Kentucky (USA) have cracked a 35-year-old mystery about the workings of the natural motors that are serving as models for development of a futuristic genre of synthetic nanomotors that pump therapeutic DNA, RNA or drugs into individual diseased cells.

The importance of nanomotors in nanotechnology is akin to that of mechanical engines to daily life. The AAA+ superfamily is a class of nanomotors performing various functions. Their hexagonal arrangement facilitates bottom-up assembly for stable structures. Bacteriophage phi29 DNA-translocation motor contains three co-axial rings and viral DNA-packaging motor has been believed to be a rotational machine. However, the researchers found a revolution mechanism without rotation. By analogy, the earth revolves around the sun while rotating on its own axis.
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Source University of Kentucky: http://nanobio.uky.edu/
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ACS Nano: http://pubs.acs.org

A multicenter team of researchers has developed biodegradable nanoparticles that are capable of delivering inflammation-resolving drugs to sites of tissue injury. The nanoparticles, which were successfully tested in mice, have potential for the treatment of a wide array of diseases characterized by excessive inflammation, such as atherosclerosis. The study was published today in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science. Particpate scientists at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Collagen IV-targeted polymeric nanoparticles (shown in pink) are home to injured tissue, post-injection, in the blood.
“A variety of medications can be used to control inflammation. Such treatments, however, usually have significant side effects and dampen the positive aspects of the inflammatory response,” said co-senior author Ira Tabas, MD, PhD,at CUMC.

Source: http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/
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http://www.eurekalert.org/

A research team from the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Basque Public University(UPV/EHU) – Spain – is using nanotechnology to develop new formulations that can be applied to drugs and gene therapy. Specifically, they are using nanoparticles to design systems for delivering genes and drugs; this helps to get the genes and drugs to the point of action so that they can produce the desired effect. The scientists have shown that lipid nanoparticles are ideal for acting as vectors in gene therapy. Gene therapy is a highly promising alternative for diseases that so far have no effective treatment. It consists of delivering a nucleic acid, for example, a therapeutic gene, to modulate the expression of a protein that is found to be altered in a specific disease, thus reversing the biological disorder.

“Using lipid nanoparticles conducts to new formulations to deliver drugs that are not particularly soluble or which are difficult to absorb”, Dr Rodriguez explained. “40% of the new pharmacologically active molecules are reckoned to be insoluble or not very soluble in water; that prevents many of these potentially active molecules from ever reaching the clinic because of the problems involved in developing a safe, effective formulation.” explains Dr Alicia Rodriguez.

Source: http://www.basqueresearch.com/

A University of Washington team has developed a versatile platform to simultaneously offer contraception and prevent HIV. Electrically spun cloth with nanometer-sized fibers can dissolve to release drugs, providing a platform for cheap, discrete and reversible protection. Until now the only way to protect against HIV and unintended pregnancy today is the condom. It’s an effective technology, but not appropriate or popular in all situations.

The electrospun fibers can release chemicals or they can physically block sperm, as shown here.
“Our dream is to create a product women can use to protect themselves from HIV infection and unintended pregnancy,” said corresponding author Kim Woodrow, a UW assistant professor of bioengineering. “We have the drugs to do that. It’s really about delivering them in a way that makes them more potent, and allows a woman to want to use it.”

The research was published this week in the Public Library of Science’s open-access journal PLoS One.
Source: http://www.washington.edu/

Arrowhead Research Corporation, a targeted therapeutics company, today announced the publication of data demonstrating that its anti-obesity drug candidate, Adipotide, induces rapid metabolic changes with implications for Type II diabetes. An independent laboratory reported that obese mice treated with Adipotide displayed significantly improved insulin sensitivity, improved glucose tolerance, and a reduction in serum triglycerides after only 2-3 days of treatment. These effects occurred independent of and prior to Adipotide-induced weight loss. 

"A large amount of data generated over the past eight years across multiple laboratories have suggested that Adipotide is a unique and potentially powerful agent against the obesity epidemic," said Dr. Christopher Anzalone, President and Chief Executive Officer of Arrowhead. "This new study suggests that it may also be a powerful agent against obesity's sister epidemic, Type II diabetes."

The findings, published online ahead of print in the Journal of the American Diabetes Association, are presented in a paper titled "Rapid and weight-independent improvement of glucose tolerance induced by a peptide designed to elicit apoptosis in adipose tissue endothelium." The research team is led by Director of the Cincinnati Diabetes and Obesity Center, Dr. Randy Seeley.

Source: http://www.arrowres.com/publications/2012/june26_2012.html

Scientists are reporting an advance toward treating disease with minute capsules containing not drugs — but the DNA and other biological machinery for making the drug. In an article in ACS’ journal Nano Letters, they describe engineering micro- and nano-sized capsules that contain the genetically coded instructions, plus the read-out gear and assembly line for protein synthesis that can be switched on with an external signal.

   Daniel Anderson’s group from M.I.T., author of the article (http://video.mit.edu/watch/inside-the-lab-daniel-g-anderson-phd-8385/),  developed an artificial, remotely activated nanoparticle system containing DNA and the other “parts” necessary to make proteins, which are the workhorses of the human cell and are often used as drugs. They describe the nanoscale production units, which are tiny spheres encapsulating protein-making machinery like that found in living cells. The resulting nanoparticles produced active proteins on demand when the researchers shined a laser light on them. The nanoparticles even worked when they were injected into mice, which are stand-ins for humans in the laboratory, producing proteins when a laser was shone onto the animals. This innovation “may find utility in the localized delivery of therapeutics,” say the researchers.

Source: http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/nl2036047