(NanoRealm) - While scientists have become rather adept at transforming generic skin cells into specialized organ cells, crafting the organs themselves has proven far more difficult. Since the 3-D architecture of most organs is as important to their function as their cellular makeup, 2-D cell cultures are not very useful for building a replacement heart from scratch. To solve that problem, most organ makers create a scaffolding for the cells to grow on.

For a team of researchers at Rice University, even a biodegradable scaffolding wasn't good enough. By injecting cells with a metallic gel, the researchers have succeeded in suspending cultured cells in a three-dimensional magnetic field. With this magnetic scaffolding, organs can be grown in the right shape, and with no foreign material.

The researchers used bacteriophages, special viruses that inject themselves into cells, to insert a polymer iron oxide gel into brain cancer cells. Once the cells absorbed the magnetic gel, the Rice scientists levitated the cells in a weak magnetic field. And since cells naturally live in a 3-D space, not a 2-D culture, the brain cancer cells actually behaved more normally while suspended in the magnetic field then they did when in a cell culture.
The obvious next step involved programming detailed magnetic fields that float stem cells in the exact spots needed for them to grow into a full organ. To that end, the researchers have sold the technology to the company n3D Bioscences. Whether or not this process leaves your replacement organ magnetic, and how that will affect getting through airports, remains to be seen.

---

Source: PopSci - http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-03/metal-nano-particles-suspend-human-cells-magnetic-scaffolding-organ-manufactoring

Nanotechnology Shows Promise for Use in Treatments for Melanoma, other Skin Conditions

(NanoRealm) - Recent research suggests how the popular skin filler hyaluronic acid works to rejuvenate photoaged skin, and nanotechnology may have potential for use in cosmetic products and topical medical treatments, according to two presentations this week at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, held from March 5 to 9 in Miami Beach, Fla.
In one presentation, Dana L. Sachs, M.D., of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, presented results of an initial study of six patients showing that hyaluronic acid injections stimulate production of type I collagen, and a subsequent study of 11 patients showing that the mechanism behind this process is increased activity of fibroblasts, which were observed at four and 13 weeks following injection to be in a 'stretched' configuration that correlates with increased collagen production.

In a second presentation, Adnan Nasir, M.D., of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, discussed the pros and cons of nanotechnology and how nanoparticles may someday be used to enhance the effectiveness of cosmetic products such as sunscreens, shampoos and conditioners; anti-aging products such as retinoids, antioxidants, botulinum toxin, and growth factors; and treatments for conditions such as melanoma, atopic dermatitis, and ichthyosis. However, he cautioned that the future of nanotechnology in dermatology depends on the results of an ongoing safety review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"Research in the area of nanotechnology has increased significantly over the years, and I think there will be considerable growth in this area in the near future," Nasir said in a statement. "The challenge is that a standard has not been set yet to evaluate the safety and efficacy of topical products that contain nanosized particles."

---

Source: Modern Medicine (web)
Press Release for:
1) "Research Reveals How Popular Skin Filler Works at the Molecular Level to Stimulate Collagen Production in Sun-Damaged Skin" - Sachs
2) "Sizing Up Nanotechnology: How Nanosized Particles May Affect Skin Care Products" - Nasir

(NanoRealm) - Huixin He, associate professor, nanoscale chemistry at Rutgers University, Newark, and Tamara Minko, professor at the Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, have developed a nanotechnology approach that potentially could eliminate the problems of side effects and drug resistance in the treatment of cancer. Under traditional chemotherapy, cancer cells, like bacteria, can develop resistance to drug therapy, leading to a relapse of the disease.

As reported in the December 21, 2009, issue of the journal Small, He, Minko and their co-researchers, including investigators from Merck & Co. and Carl Zeiss SMT, a global nanotechnology firm, have designed nanomaterials that allow for the targeted and simultaneous delivery of a chemical drug to destroy cancer cells and a genetic drug to prevent drug resistance.

"We modified the surface of mesoporous silica nanoparticles so that an anticancer drug, doxorubicin, could be loaded into the pores of the silica nanoparticles. Also loaded onto the nanoparticles was a genetic drug designed to prevent or remove multidrug resistance outside the nanoparticles," explained He.

When administered to multidrug-resistant ovarian cancer cells, the nanoparticle treatment was more than 130 times more lethal than when doxorubicin was administrated alone . Most importantly, "the drug can only be released when it is inside the cancer cells. This controlled internal release mechanism can dramatically eliminate side effects associated with anticancer drugs to normal tissues," He noted.

Battling Aggressive Breast Cancer with Nanotubes

In related research, Professor He and another team of co-researchers have developed single-walled carbon nanotubes, consisting of cylinders of carbon about a nanometer in length, that hold the potential of providing a more effective means for detecting and selectively destroying aggressive breast cancer cells.

In a paper published in BMC Cancer late last year, the researchers showed that by chemically bonding a special antibody onto the nanotubes and taking advantage of two unique optical properties of carbon nanotubes (strong Raman scattering and near infrared absorption), single cancer cells can be detected and selectively eradicated while leaving the nearby normal cells unharmed. A uniqueness of this approach is that it offers the advantage of being more easily extended to other types of cancer cells. He's research in the areas of cancer detection and treatment is funded in part with grants from the National Science Foundation and National Cancer Institute.

Research Focuses on Practical Applications Across a Wide Range of Fields

The application of He's nanotechnology research is far and wide. In other research, He and members of her lab at Rutgers are working on the practical application of nanomaterials as a molecular diagnostic tool for Parkinson's disease. Other research is focused on the development of a platform to detect the presence of chemical warfare agents for homeland defense. And in yet other research, He and her lab members are working on nanotechnology to precisely and selectively measure iron ions (Fe3+) in remote ocean atmosphere dust and sea water, which is critical for the study of greenhouse gases and climate change .

At Rutgers, He teaches an undergraduate course in analytical chemistry and graduate courses in electrochemical analytical chemistry and a new course she designed in scanning probe microscopy. She is the recipient of the 2009 Rutgers Presidential Fellowship for Teaching Excellence.

---

For more information: To learn more about He's research, visit http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~huixinhe/huixinhe.html.

Source: Physorg.com - http://www.physorg.com/news186338960.html
Provided by Rutgers University (web)

(NanoRealm) - Telecommunications researchers in Japan are attempting to create electronic sensors that can not only receive information from the brain, but could manipulate our neural pathways.

While the concept might conjure science-fiction images of half-human, half-machine cyborgs, Dr Keiichi Torimitsu of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT), says the research is more likely to provide relief for people with Parkinson's disease or overcoming stroke.

Torimitsu presented his team's work on the development of bionic, or bio-mimetic, brain sensors at this week's International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICONN) in Sydney.

"Establishing connections between the brain and electrical instruments is important for understanding how the brain works and for controlling neural activity," says Torimitsu, who heads NTT's Molecular and Bioscience Group.

"To develop some kind of devices or interfaces with the brain that would make it possible to transmit our information, sending it through the telecommunication pathways to another person or device such as a computer - that is the goal."

A neural interface would be a significant achievement in the rapidly advancing realm of bionic technology, which includes devices such as the cochlear ear implant.

Nano-connections

Torimitsu is working on creating a nano-scaled implant comprising a nano-electrode coated with an artificial membrane that mimics the receptor proteins found on the surface of brain cells, such as glutamate and GABA receptors -involved in increasing and inhibiting brain activity.

Interactions between the receptors and neurotransmitters naturally generate electrical activity. Carefully placed nano-electrodes receive the neurotransmissions providing an instant, accurate electrical reflection of what is occurring, which can be read by an external device.

Torimitsu hopes it would not only monitor activity, but also interact in the connections between neurons known as the synapses.

Ideally, he says, the device would use a biological energy source such as glucose.

"If we could use those proteins on a nano-electrode to generate electrical responses, we could achieve the bio-mimicry of responses."

Torimitsu admits there are a number of hurdles to overcome such as adverse immune responses and possible faults with the machinery. He says at this stage it's unlikely that healthy people would volunteer to have the devices implanted.

But, Torimitsu says it has great medical potential for stroke sufferers and people with Parkinson's disease where brain activity could be controlled.

Australian connections

The Japanese team is working with several researchers in Australia to refine the concept and devise applications for the technology.

Torimitsu has been working with Dr Simon Koblar of the University of Adelaide's Centre for Molecular Genetics of Development, looking at how to apply the technology for the treatment of stroke sufferers.

He is also about to commence working with the University of Wollongong's Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, which works at the forefront of bionics.

Director of the Institute, Professor Gordon Wallace, says one of the goals is to improve the interface with cochlear implant.

He says Torimitsu's work - a meeting of telecommunications technology and biological knowledge - shows why it makes it a very exciting time to be doing such research.

"People are starting to realise all around the world that there are lots of tools that we can use that we already have at our disposal to make this field progress very quickly," says Wallace.

---

Source: ABC News (http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/02/25/2830261.htm)

(NanoRealm) - Montana State University scientists are researching the use of nanomaterials to develop a new way of fighting influenza and other respiratory infections caused by viruses.

If it works in humans the way it does in mice, people will prepare for a respiratory viral assault by inhaling an aerosol spray containing tiny protein cages that will activate an immune response in their lungs. This activated immune state will be good against any respiratory virus and last more than a month. People won't have to wait for scientists to analyze new viruses, develop vaccines against them, then distribute and administer the vaccine.
"It's like having a fire department at your house before the fire. If a fire starts, you don't have to call them and wait for them to arrive. They are already there," said Jim Wiley, assistant research professor in the Department of Veterinary Molecular Biology in MSU's College of Agriculture.

Wiley has been working on the protein cage nanomaterial approach for more than 2 1/2 years. A recent $275,000 grant from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will allow his research team to continue another two years. The grant was made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The hollow protein cages he uses in his research are prepared in MSU's Center for Bio-Inspired Nanomaterials, Wiley said. These protein cages are made by a heat-loving bacterium, and they are similar to one which the Center for Bio-Inspired Nanomaterials recently isolated from a bacterium that thrives in the thermal features of Yellowstone National Park. The cages are hollow spheres that carry nothing on the outside. They are so small that they have to be magnified 50,000 times to be seen under an electron microscope. A human hair is 7,000 to 10,000 times wider than these cages.


The cages alone are enough to set off an immune response in the lungs, Wiley said. If the approach works in humans, people who have prepared their lungs with nanomaterials might sniffle for a couple of days instead of being hospitalized. Rather than missing work for a few days with an influenza infection, they may only need to sleep a few extra hours at night.

"You would be able to prepare an entire population for an imminent respiratory viral infection, like the swine influenza infections that we just experienced," Wiley said.

Wiley and 10 co-authors from MSU, Utah State University and the University of Rochester Medical Center have already published a scientific paper on the nanomaterial approach, which is based upon activating "inducible Bronchus-Associated Lymphoid Tissue," or iBALT, in the lung. This iBALT is a naturally occurring tissue that is made in the lung as part of the normal immune response to an infection. The paper showed that the presence of iBALT accelerated the recovery of infected mice without causing lung damage or other harmful side effects. The acceleration effect of the treatment disappeared gradually after one month. The paper about it ran in the September 2009 edition of PLoS One, an online scientific journal from the Public Library of Science.

MSU co-authors of the paper were Laura Richert, Steve Swain, Ann Harmsen, Mark Jutila and Allen Harmsen in the Department of Veterinary Molecular Biology; Trevor Douglas, Chris Broomell and Mark Young in the Center for Bio-Inspired Nanomaterials. Douglas and Broomell are also in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Young is also in the Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology.

In the current project, Wiley said he and his team are testing this iBALT-based therapy in animal models, whose response to influenza infection is close to that seen in humans. He doesn't know when this iBALT-based approach will be tested in humans, but said, "It certainly is promising as a treatment right at the moment."

He added that nanomaterials could be generated much faster than vaccines.
Wiley's current research team consists of Richert and four lab technicians: Abby Leary, Rebecca Pulman, Soo Han and Mark McAlpine. Richert is a doctoral student from Idaho.

"I have been excited to work on it," Richert said about the project. "It has been interesting from a non-traditional immunological standpoint."
Wiley said if iBALT-based therapies had been in place last year, people would have been better prepared for H1N1.

"If we had been able to develop a state of immune preparedness in the lungs or a partial activation state in the lungs, we could have at least given people some degree of protection," Wiley said.

MSU Technology Transfer Officer Nick Zelver said MSU has a patent on using protein cages to trigger the rapid production of lymphoid tissue in the lung. The technology could be used to prevent or treat a range of pulmonary diseases including influenza. It might counter bioterrorism threats, such as airborne microbes. The protein cage technology is available for licensing from MSU. To see all MSU technologies available for licensing, go to http://tto.montana.edu/technologies.

---

Source: Montana State University

Adapted from: http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=14948.php

(NanoRealm) - New research at the A. James Clark School of Engineering could prevent bacterial infections using tiny biochemical machines - nanofactories - that can confuse bacteria and stop them from spreading, without the use of antibiotics.

A paper about the research is featured in the current issue of Nature Nanotechnology. "Engineered biological nanofactories trigger quorum sensing response in targeted bacteria," was authored by Clark School alumnus Rohan Fernandes (Ph.D. '08, bioengineering), graduate student Varnika Roy (molecular and cell biology), graduate student Hsuan-Chen Wu (bioengineering), and their advisor, William Bentley (professor and chair, Fischell Department of Bioengineering).

The group's work is an update on their original nanofactories, first developed in 2007. Those nanofactories made use of tiny magnetic bits to guide them to the infection site.
"This is a completely new, all-biological version," he says. "The new nanofactories are self-guided and targeted. We've demonstrated for the first time that they're capable of finding a specific kind of bacterium and inducing it to communicate, a much finer level of automation and control."

The new nanofactories can tell the difference between bad (pathogenic) and good bacteria. For instance, our digestive tracts contain a certain level of good bacteria to help us digest food. The new nanofactories could target just the bad bacteria, without disrupting the levels of good bacteria in the digestive tract (a common side effect of many antibiotics). Nanofactories target the bacteria directly rather than traveling throughout the body, another advantage over traditional antibiotics.

Bacterial cells talk to each other in a form of cell-to-cell communication known as quorum sensing. When the cells sense that they have reached a certain quantity, an infection could be triggered. The biological nanofactories developed at the Clark School can interrupt this communication, disrupting the actions of the cells and shutting down an infection.

Alternatively, the nanofactories could trick the bacteria into sensing a quorum too early. Doing so would trigger the bacteria to try to form an infection before there are enough bacterial cells to do harm. This would prompt a natural immune system response capable of stopping them without the use of drugs.

Because nanofactories are designed to affect communication instead of trying to kill the bacteria, they could help treat illness in cases where a strain of bacteria has become resistant to antibiotics.

"The work by Dr. Bentley is extremely exciting as he is using the ability of engineering to "build" using nature based components," says Philip Leduc, associate professor in the Departments of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering and the Lane Center for Computational Biology and Biological Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. "Understanding the science of cells is wonderful, but then using these components and constructing systems that leverage biological advantages is a huge step forward. His work in this paper uses his synthetic biology approach to build new nanofactories toward new areas of antimicrobials as well as opening new findings in quorum sensing."

The nanofactories' ability to alter cell-to-cell communication isn't limited to fighting infections.

"Quorum sensing and signaling molecules are actually used to accomplish a lot of things," Bentley explains. "Sometimes disease develops because communication is not taking place—a good example is digestive disorders that involve an imbalance of bacteria in the digestive tract. In that case, nanofactories could be used to start or increase communication instead of disrupting it."

---

More information: Paper - Engineered biological nanofactories trigger quorum sensing response in targeted bacteria
Provided by University of Maryland (web)

(NanoRealm) - Researchers move one step closer to nature with the development of polymers and directional adhesion that follow the workings of a gecko's foot

Nanotechnology has not only brought nature and engineering closer together; it has encouraged collaboration among researchers of different disciplines. In one such collaboration, two researchers drew on the extraordinary stickiness of a gecko's foot to develop a synthetic adhesive to help robots scale walls.

NSF-funded researchers Mark Cutkosky, an engineer at Stanford University, and Kellar Autumn, a biologist at Lewis and Clark College, have collaborated to develop a gecko-like synthetic adhesive that functions like real gecko bristles for climbing applications. The team discovered the fundamental physics principles underlying gecko adhesion, which enabled the invention of an adhesive nanostructure.

The Tokay gecko, one of the largest and heaviest geckos, served as inspiration.

"The challenge was simply to get robots to go where robots have never been able to go before, like up walls of buildings," said Cutkosky. "If robots can climb vertical surfaces, then they can do inspection of buildings and bridges and other hard- to-reach places."

Cutkosky received a four-year, $1 million National Science Foundation research grant that funded the development of the first gecko-like synthetic adhesive (GSA) that works like real gecko bristles. Autumn received two NSF grants for continued research on gecko adhesion. Cutkosky's team collaborated with Kellar Autumn and his gecko lab to determine whether a synthetic adhesive could be applied to robots.

"The collaboration with Mark's group has been incredibly productive. Based on micro-force measurements, we hypothesized that a coupling of shear force and adhesion was responsible for control of the geckos' attachment system," said Autumn.

A gecko's foot possesses a sophisticated adhesion system that uses van der Waals forces, which are the basic molecular attraction that exists between molecules. Van der Waals forces allow geckos to climb and hang on a smooth and vertical surfaces using one toe.

Cutkosky and his team have been designing bio-inspired robots which use van der Waals forces. Their most recent design is stickybot, a robot that has gecko-like pads, which allows it to scale walls and buildings.

Bio-inspired design on a nano scale

The intricate work of nature occurs on a tiny scale, below the limits of our vision. Beneath the surface of a gecko's foot is a three-level hierarchy of structures. The first level is made up of lamellae, which are a series of structures that look like flaps under a microscope. Then, the lamellae are divided into smaller structures called seate which are thinner than a human hair. Finally, the seate branch into tiny little ends called spatulae, which are only a couple of hundred nanometers in size.

"So what happens is that the gecko is able to conform to surfaces ranging from tens or hundreds of nanometers all the way up to centimeters," said Cutkosky. "It is very cool; it is sort of the poster child for complex hierarchical geometry, almost fractal in its nature."

The structures that compose the different levels in the hierarchy have a similar behavior at multiple length scales.

The gecko's toe structures are only adhesive when loaded in a particular direction and the gecko can control adhesion by aligning its microstructures and making intimate contact with the surface. Stickybot follows the same principles as a gecko, but needs to adjust the orientation of its feet as it climbs. This is to ensure that the toes are always loaded in the proper direction for adhesion.

Cutkosky and Autumn have built similar synthetic structures that follow the design of a gecko's foot. At present, they have created a two layer hierarchy of polymers with directional adhesion. This is good enough for stickybot to use to scale walls; however there is always room for improvement.

"It comes down to how much adhesion you are getting per unit area. The gecko can easily support its weight on one toe. In fact, it has lots to spare. Without the latest and greatest adhesives, I think stickybot can barely support its weight on one toe. We are nowhere near the gecko. Basically, it comes down to the weight of the robot and how many pascals of adhesion you can get from your material," said Cutkosky.



The pascal is a measurement of force per unit area which allows researchers, like Cutkosky, to determine how much stress the synthetic adhesion can tolerate. This helps gauge how the adhesive is developed and how it can be changed in the future.

The future of stickybot

Stickybot employs three main principles to climb smooth surfaces: hierarchical compliance to conform to levels from micrometers to centimeters, directional adhesion to smoothly engage and disengage from a surface, and force control to control frictional forces in the feet. Though stickybot can climb on vertical and smooth surfaces, Cutkosky hopes to develop a robot capable of climbing a wide variety of surfaces.

"We are continuing to try and improve the dry adhesive itself, but independent from that; we are working on a new stickybot. Making the ankles of the robot rotate is probably number one, but we also want to do more sensing and control. Right now stickybot doesn't have many sensors, so if it's climbing and starting to get into trouble, it doesn't know that and may fall," said Cutkosky.


Cutkosky and Autumn's research and collaboration have shown how materials science is attempting to follow nature.

"Nature has a huge advantage it can grow and differentiate cell by cell. Whereas, when we manufacture things we're always using processes that work top-down and so every layer is difficult and expensive for us," said Cutkosky.

---

Sources:

• National Science Foundation
  
• Stanford
  
• Gecko Lab Lewis and Clark
  

A world-renowned medical researcher discusses the key role that nanotechnology has begun to play in the detection and treatment of cancer in an article that will appear in the March 2010 edition of Mechanical Engineering magazine.

Mauro Ferrari, Ph.D., explains how advanced nanotech-based therapeutic agents possess characteristics that can effectively exploit the unique mechanical properties of cancer lesions and treat the various forms of the disease locally.

According to Ferrari, professor and chairman of the Department of Nanomedicine and Biomedical Engineering at The University of Texas Health Science Center, some engineered nano-particles have demonstrated the capability to deliver drugs only to areas affected by disease, in the process protecting healthy cells and reducing debilitating side effects.


An important insight in understanding how to treat cancer, Ferrari says, is that aspects of the disease such as malignancy, metastasis, and angiogenesis (which is the growth of new arteries to feed tumors) are mechanical phenomena pertaining to the motion and transport of blood and cells. Nanotechnology-based therapies currently under experimentation for cancer treatment take advantage of some of these mechanical properties to find new ways to attack tumors.

This constitutes a new field that Ferrari and his medical colleagues refer to as “transport oncophysics.”

Formulations of drugs made from nano-particles have shown the ability to overcome biological barriers -- for example, by leaking through the blood vessels inside a tumor -- to concentrate on localized cancers. Because of this, nanotechnology-based drugs may be used in smaller doses and are less likely to disperse to healthy parts of the body. Ferrari and his team at The University of Texas also have designed nano-particles called Multi-Stage Vectors, which offer great promise in targeting individual cancer cells.

“We are on the brink of a new era in cancer treatment,” asserts Ferrari in the forthcoming article, titled “Infernal Mechanism.”

“The level of specificity that can be achieved through the use of the conceptual model of cancer as a mechanical disease – and through the power of the mechanical engineering design process – will result in greater therapeutic efficacy with reduced side effects,” he concludes.

Mauro Ferrari will speak on Feb. 8 at the First Global Congress on Nano-engineering for Medicine and Biology. The conference, sponsored by ASME, will open on Feb. 7 at the JW Marriott Houston, in Houston, Texas.

---
Above information was sourced from ASME.

About ASME
ASME helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real world challenges. Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME codes and standards, publications, conferences, continuing education and professional development programs provide a foundation for advancing technical knowledge and a safer world.