a former postdoc in MIT Laser Biomedical Research center (LBRC) and one of the lead authors of a paper describing the technology in the Oct 2 issue of the journal Scientific Reports.
When these cells are infected with malaria they lose this ability to deform, and form clogs in tiny vessels.
it could also be used to study the dynamics of the malformed blood cells that cause sickle cell anemia.
The research was funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering and Nanoscope Technologies, LLC n
#New way to model sickle cell behavior Patients with sickle cell disease often suffer from painful attacks known as vaso-occlusive crises, during
Blood transfusions can sometimes prevent such attacks, but there are currently no good ways to predict when a vaso-occlusive crisis,
and Vannevar bush Professor of Engineering Emeritus, have developed a tiny microfluidic device that can analyze the behavior of blood from sickle cell disease patients.
It could also help researchers test the efficacy of new drugs for sickle cell disease which occurs in about 300,000 newborns per year, more than 75 percent of them in Africa.
and Gregory Kato of the Department of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. Squeezing by People with sickle cell disease,
an inherited genetic disorder, have a variant form of hemoglobin that causes their red blood cells to take on a characteristic sickle shape when in low-oxygen conditions.
Patients now have an average life expectancy of 45 to 50 years in the United states, up from only 14 years as recently as 1973.
Disease severity varies among patients depending on how much abnormal hemoglobin is present in their cells. Sickle cells can squeeze through most blood vessels
Analyzing risk Using this device to measure blood samples from 25 sickle cell disease patients, the researchers were able to determine how deoxygenation affects red blood cellssickling rates;
if the device can be used to reliably predict individual patientsrisk of a vaso-occlusive crisis. his technique represents a major advance to further our understanding and treatment of vaso-occlusion due to sickle cell disease.
and treating other diseases where the deformability of blood cells is affected, says Guruswami Ravichandran, a professor of aeronautics and mechanical engineering at Caltech who was involved not in this study.
and they also plan to pursue it as a tool to test potential new drugs for sickle cell disease.
the researchers analyzed a drug called Aes-103, now in phase II clinical trials to treat sickle cell disease,
or therapeutic application by creating the exact combination of channels needed for that task. ou can have a really broad palette of devices,
and ultimately may also lead to long-lasting devices for treatment of conditions such as Parkinson disease.
#Decoding sugar addiction Together, obesity and Type 2 diabetes rank among our nation greatest health problem,
and anxiety. e need to study this circuit in more depth, but our ultimate goal is to develop safe,
with the long-term goal of establishing a new paradigm for treating obesity that could be applied to other neuropsychiatric disorders.
#New findings reveal genetic brain disorders converge at the synapse Picower Institute for Learning and Memory January 12,
2015 SHARE Several genetic disorders cause intellectual disability and autism. Historically, these genetic brain diseases were viewed as untreatable.
However, in recent years neuroscientists have shown in animal models that it is possible to reverse the debilitating effects of these gene mutations.
a treatment developed for one genetic cause of autism and intellectual disability might be useful for many others.
In a paper published today in the online edition of Nature Neuroscience a research team led by Mark Bear,
the Picower Professor of Neuroscience in MIT Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, showed that two very different genetic causes of autism
and intellectual disability disrupt protein synthesis at synapses, and that a treatment developed for one disease produced a cognitive benefit in the other.
The research was performed by postdoc and lead author Di Tian, graduate student Laura Stoppel, and research scientist Arnold Heynen, in collaboration with scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Roche pharmaceuticals.
Researching the role of fragile X syndrome One heritable cause of intellectual disability and autism is fragile X syndrome,
which arises when a single gene on the X chromosome, called FMR1, is turned off during brain development.
that too much protein synthesis downstream of mglur5 activation gives rise to many of the psychiatric and neurological symptoms of fragile X. Bear lab tested this idea in mice,
Different genes, same consequences Another cause of autism and intellectual disability is the loss of a series of genes on human chromosome 16,
Some of the 27 affected genes play a role in protein synthesis regulation, leading Bear and colleagues to wonder if 16p11.2 microdeletion syndrome and fragile X syndrome affect synapses in the same way.
similar to fragile X. Restoring brain function after disease onset These findings encouraged the MIT researchers to attempt to improve memory function in the 16p11.2 mice with the same approach that has worked in fragile X mice.
The implication, according to Bear, is that ome cognitive aspects of this disease, previously believed to be an intractable consequence of altered early brain development,
Current research indicates that well over 100 distinct gene mutations can manifest as intellectual disability and autism.
as they indicate not only that drug therapies might be effective to improve cognition and behavior in affected individuals,
This research was supported in part by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National institute of mental health, the Simons Foundation, the Simons Center for the Social Brain at MIT,
coming to a sudden halt and putting stress on the threads, causing them to fail.
the sheller stopped at a more gradual pace, reducing thread stress. All shellers could then be modified,
#MIT researchers design tailored tissue adhesives After undergoing surgery to remove diseased sections of the colon, up to 30 percent of patients experience leakage from their sutures,
Many efforts are under way to create new tissue glues that can help seal surgical incisions
The researchers found that a sealant they had developed previously worked much differently in cancerous colon tissue than in colon tissue inflamed with colitis. The finding suggests that for this sealant
a research scientist at MIT Institute for Medical science and Engineering (IMES) and senior author of a paper describing the findings in the Jan 28 online edition of Science Translational Medicine. e present a new paradigm by
Detailed study of tissue and biomaterial interactions can open a new chapter in precision medicine,
and rationally designed to match specific tissue types and disease states. After characterizing the adhesive material performance in different diseased tissues,
what happens when an adhesive is used in the same organ but under different disease conditions.
However, it performed worse in tissue inflamed with colitis than in healthy tissue. Further studies of the molecular interactions between the adhesive
but rather, disease type and state-dependent, says Artzi, who is also an assistant professor at Harvard Medical school.
or three different versions that could cover a wide range of tissues. e can take a biopsy from a patient for a quick readout of disease state that would serve as an input for our model,
Joseph Bonventre, chief of the renal unit and director of the bioengineering division at Brigham and Women Hospital in Boston, agrees that the study represents an important step toward a more personalized approach. ou want the best adhesive possible,
Doctors have begun using this kind of personalized approach when choosing drugs that match individual patientsgenetic profiles,
Between 1979 and 2013, there were over 40,000 reported injuries and nearly 20,000 fatalities due to unexploded land mines.
releasing a bit of stress, and making it easier for a second atom to climb out of a trough
While conventional lithium-ion batteries are composed of brittle electrodes that can crack under stress the new formulation produces battery cells that can be bent,
#Major step for implantable drug-delivery device An implantable, microchip-based device may soon replace the injections
and pills now needed to treat chronic diseases: Earlier this month, MIT spinout Microchips Biotech partnered with a pharmaceutical giant to commercialize its wirelessly controlled, implantable,
each capped with a metal membrane, that store tiny doses of therapeutics or chemicals. An electric current delivered by the device removes the membrane,
for example, diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and osteoporosis. Now Microchips Biotech will begin co-developing microchips with Teva Pharmaceutical, the world largest producer of generic drugs,
to treat specific diseases, with licensing potential for other products. Teva paid $35 million up front, with additional milestone payments as the device goes through clinical trials before it hits the shelves. bviously,
this is a huge validation of the technology, Cima says. major pharmaceutical company sees how this technology can further their efforts to help patients. part from providing convenience,
annually in unnecessary health care costs from additional hospital visits and other issues. Failure to follow prescriptions, the study also found, causes around 125,000 deaths annually and up to 10 percent of all hospitalizations.
While its first partnership is for treating chronic diseases, Microchips Biotech will continue work on its flagship product, a birth-control microchip, backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,
that releases contraceptives and can be turned on and off wirelessly. Cima, who now serves on the Microchips Biotech board of directors with Langer,
sees this hormone-releasing microchip as one of the first implantable rtificial organsecause it acts as a gland. lot of the therapies are trying to chemically trick the endocrine systems Cima says. e are doing that with this artificial organ we created. ild ideasinspiration for the microchips came in the late 1990s,
and somewhat fantastical, applications beyond drug delivery, including disease diagnostics and jewelry that could emit scents. e were trying to find the killer application.
and researchers from Microchips, conducted the microchipsfirst human trials to treat osteoporosis this time with wireless capabilities.
In that study, published in a 2012 issue of Science Translational Medicine, microchips were implanted into seven elderly women,
Results indicated that the chips delivered doses comparable to injections and did so more consistently ith no adverse side effects.
Removing these toxic materials which include pesticides and endocrine disruptors such as bisphenol A (BPA) with existing methods is often expensive and time-consuming.
the two lead authors, are former postdocs in the laboratory of Robert Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.
Brandl says. hen we came up with the idea to use our particles to remove toxic chemicals, pollutants,
minimizing the risks of leaving toxic secondary products to persist in, say, a body of water. nce they switch to this macro situation where theye big clumps,
from environmental remediation to medical analysis. The polymers are synthesized at room temperature, and don need to be prepared specially to target specific compounds;
offering the example of a cheap testing kit for urine analysis of medical patients. The study also suggests the broader potential for adapting nanoscale drug-delivery techniques developed for use in environmental remediation. hat we can apply some of the highly sophisticated,
and an expert in nanoengineering for health care and medical applications. hen you think about field deployment,
if the dog is under unusual stress or if a chronic health condition may be worsening.
"Making graphene-based nano devices by mechanical fracture sounds attractive, but it wouldn't make sense until we know how to get the right types of edgesnd now we do said
In the future, patients could receive a single injection of the nanoparticles to have all six types of imaging done.
This kind of"hypermodal"imagingf it came to fruitionould give doctors a much clearer picture of patients'organs
It could help medical professionals diagnose disease and identify the boundaries of tumors.""This nanoparticle may open the door for new'hypermodal'imaging systems that allow a lot of new information to be obtained using just one contrast agent,
"says researcher Jonathan Lovell, Phd, UB assistant professor of biomedical engineering.""Once such systems are developed, a patient could theoretically go in for one scan with one machine instead of multiple scans with multiple machines."
Jonathan Lovell Differences like these mean doctors can get a much clearer picture of what's happening inside the body by merging the results of multiple modalities.
"Combining these two biocompatible components into a single nanoparticle could give tomorrow's doctors a powerful,
new tool for medical imaging,"says Prasad, also a SUNY Distinguished Professor of chemistry, physics, medicine and electrical engineering at UB."
but it does not contain toxic metals such as cadmium that are known to pose potential risks
""Another advantage of this core/shell imaging contrast agent is that it could enable biomedical imaging at multiple scales, from single-molecule to cell imaging,
This would enable doctors to better see where tumors begin and end, Lovell says. Explore further:
a new type of nanoscale surface that bacteria can't stick to holds promise for applications in the food processing, medical and even shipping industries.
which proved effective in preventing surrogates of two well-known pathogens, Escherichia coli o157: H7 and Listeria monocytogenes, from attaching,
Finding low-cost solutions to limiting bacterial attachments is key, especially in biomedical and food processing applications."
and are tricky to remove in biomedical clean rooms and in equipment parts that are hard to reach or clean,
#A speedy test for bladder cancer A fast and accurate urine test for bladder cancer developed by A*STAR researchers has the potential to replace the currently used invasive physical probe.
Cystoscopy clinical procedure that uses a narrow, tubular optical instrument called a cystoscope to view inside the bladders currently the gold standard for detecting cancer in this organ.
a recently discovered urinary antigen and a potential biomarker for bladder cancer. The new tool could be used as a high-throughput screening platform to identify patients at risk of developing the urologic condition.
The immunoassay employs two advanced technologies, namely surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), a powerful spectroscopic technique for detecting analytes at low concentrations,
which target-seeking antibodies can be conjugated for assaying A1at (see image). The researchers first tested the immunoassay on a series of standard solutions containing A1at antigens at various concentrations in the range 10 to 1, 000 nanograms per milliliter.
They observed a'fingerprint'of A1at antigens spectral change in the 1, 850 to 2, 130 cm#1 region that increases with concentration.
The scientists then tried the immunoassay on urine samples from nine patients. They found significantly elevated levels of A1at in bladder cancer patients.
There was also a marked difference in the A1at concentrations of cancer and non-cancer patients,
which suggests that the technique is highly discriminative, specific and accurate. Importantly, only tiny amounts of sample were required:
"We have developed a smart SERS biosensor for the rapid screening of bladder cancer, "says Olivo."
#Researchers find exposure to nanoparticles may threaten heart health Nanoparticles extremely tiny particles measured in billionths of a meter are increasingly everywhere and especially in biomedical products.
Their toxicity has been researched in general terms but now a team of Israeli scientists has for the first time found that exposure nanoparticles (NPS) of silicon dioxide (Sio2) can play a major role in the development of cardiovascular diseases
when the NP cross tissue and cellular barriers and also find their way into the circulatory system.
Their study is published in the December 2014 issue of Environmental Toxicology. The research team was comprised of scientists from the Technion Rappaport Faculty of medicine Rambam Medical center
and the Center of Excellence in Exposure Science and Environmental Health (TCEEH Environmental exposure to nanoparticles is becoming unavoidable due to the rapid expansion of nanotechnology says the study's lead author Prof.
Products that use silica-based nanoparticles for biomedical uses such as various chips drug or gene delivery and tracking imaging ultrasound therapy and diagnostics may also pose an increased cardiovascular
Sio2 NPS are toxic to and have significant adverse effects on macrophages a type of white blood cell that take up lipids leading to atherosclerotic lesion development and its consequent cardiovascular events such as heart attack or stroke.
Macrophages accumulation in the arterial wall under atherogenic conditions such as high cholesterol triglycerides oxidative stress#are converted into lipids or laden foam cells
which in turn accelerate atherosclerosis development. Macrophage foam cells accumulation in the arterial wall are a key cell type in the development of atherosclerosis
which is an inflammatory disease says co-author Dr. Lauren Petrick. The aims of our study were to gain additional insight into the cardiovascular risk associated with silicon dioxide nanoparticle exposure
We also wanted to use nanoparticles as a model for ultrafine particle (UFP) exposure as cardiovascular disease risk factors.
Here researchers have discovered for the first time that the toxicity of silicon dioxide nanoparticles has a significant and substantial effect on the accumulation of triglycerides in the macrophages at all exposure concentrations analyzed
and that they also increase oxidative stress and toxicity. A recent update from the American Heart Association also suggested that fine particles in air pollution leads to elevated risk for cardiovascular diseases.
However more research was needed to examine the role of ultrafine particles (which are much smaller than fine particles) on atherosclerosis development and cardiovascular risk.
Because our research demonstrates a clear cardiovascular health risk associated with this trend steps need to be taken to help ensure that potential health
New driver of atherosclerosis offers potential as therapeutic targe r
#Researchers create novel nanobowl optical concentrator for organic solar cell Geometrical light trapping is a simple and promising strategy to largely improve the optical absorption and efficiency of solar cells.
#Arming nanoparticles for cancer diagnosis and treatment UCD researchers have manipulated successfully nanoparticles to target two human breast cancer cell lines as a tool in cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Coating nanoparticles with different substances allows their interaction with cells to be tuned in a particular way.
This is called photothermal ablation therapy. Magnetically active particles like iron (Fe) can enable physical therapies by generating heat
The team believe that Fe-Au functionalised nanorods used in conjunction with these drugs could be useful in cancer treatment.
This was even more effective in causing cancer cell death than magnetic hyperthermia the other therapeutic approach we assessed explained Dr Devrim Kilinc first author and research fellow in the Lee group.
#'Trojan horse'proteins are step forward for nanoparticle-based anticancer and anti-dementia therapeutic approaches Scientists at Brunel University London have found a way of targeting hard-to-reach cancers
and degenerative diseases using nanoparticles but without causing the damaging side effects the treatment normally brings.
and is responsible for clearing pathogens and toxins. The team led by Dr Uday Kishore of the Centre for Infection Immunity
and Disease Mechanisms found the entire complement system was activated from C1 at the start to C5 at the end.
This in turn activated the cell-killing membrane attack complex. In principle this should have caused an acute allergic inflammatory reaction.
However the opposite was true. The interaction between CNTS and C1q (a starter-protein for complement) was anti-inflammatory.
and help treat inflammatory diseases like Parkinson's Huntington's ALS and Alzheimer's. It was not clear
and could be as revolutionary to modern medicine as its twentieth century predecessor r
#Scalable growth of high quality bismuth nanowires Bismuth nanowires have intriguing electronic and energy harvesting application possibilities.
but none reported so far can sense the direction of stress. This is the kind of information that can tell our bodies a lot about the shape
piezoresistive interlocked microdome arrays are employed for stress-direction-sensitive, stretchable electronic skins. Here we show that these arrays possess highly sensitive detection capability of various mechanical stimuli including normal,
For example conventional manufacturing techniques are not practical for medical devices that need to be fit to a patient's particular shape
Researchers at the University of Basel and The swiss Tropical and Public health Institute have developed now so-called nanomimics of host cell membranes that trick the parasites.
This could lead to novel treatment and vaccination strategies in the fight against malaria and other infectious diseases.
For many infectious diseases no vaccine currently exists. In addition resistance against currently used drugs is spreading rapidly.
To fight these diseases innovative strategies using new mechanisms of action are needed. The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum that is transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito is such an example.
Malaria is still responsible for more than 600000 deaths annually especially affecting children in Africa (WHO 2012.
and the reduction of infection through the nanomimics was 100-fold higher when compared to a soluble form of the host cell receptors.
and vaccines strategies in the future says Adrian Najer first-author of the study. Since many other pathogens use the same host cell receptor for invasion the nanomimics might also be used against other infectious diseases.
The research project was funded by The swiss National Science Foundation and the NCCR Molecular Systems Engineering.
Why humans don't suffer from chimpanzee malaria More information: Adrian Najer Dalin Wu Andrej Bieri Franoise Brand Cornelia G. Palivan Hans-Peter Beck and Wolfgang Meier.
with biomedical electronic and photonic applications. The new technique is significantly less expensive than conventional methods
"The chemicals that are used usually for this were just too toxic for me.""She preferred not to use cyanide, formaldehyde, arsenic and heavy metal salts.
This chemical damages nerve cells and apparently plays a role in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
thus be practical both in medical research as well as for diagnosis. The conversion of hydrogen peroxide to water,
"A subcutaneous sensor could save diabetes patients from having to constantly prick their fingers"thinks Ensinger.
because the components of such implants should be produced with as few toxic chemicals as possible."
Possibly as a result of the swelling or for other unknown reasons the silicon fractures and breaks down.
By comparison other methods to make nanoporous graphene often use corrosive and toxic chemicals in systems that would be challenging to use at large commercial levels.
An encouraging new study published in Nano Letters describes a revolutionary novel device tested on animal-derived retinal models that has the potential to treat a number of eye diseases.
According to TAU doctoral student and research team member Dr. Lilach Bareket there are already medical devices that attempt to treat visual impairment by sending sensory signals to the brain.
While scientists are trying different approaches to develop an implant that can see light and send visual signals to a person's brain to counter the effects of AMD
while traditional restoration techniques pose serious problems in terms of physicochemical compatibility with substances contained in artefacts and toxicity.
The lack of physicochemical compatibility between restoration materials and artefacts along with the former's toxicity were the two main aspects that prompted us to propose the NANOFORART project.
and are either not toxic or have reduced a significantly toxicity level compared to traditional restoration materials like solvents
What's so innovative about the solutions you propose? The advanced nanomaterials we have been working on allow for a more precise control of the restoration intervention for example controlled cleaning can be carried out using microemulsions and chemical hydrogels instead of traditional cleaning methods.
We could compare preservation of cultural heritage to medicine where the works of art play the role of the patients:
diagnostic techniques are fundamental to understanding the disease (degradation processes) but must then be complemented by the development of medicines (advanced restoration materials) to cure the patient (restore the work of art).
These are the main reasons that so far have slowed down advances in conservation techniques. What were the main difficulties you faced in the development of these new materials?
One of the main advantages in using these fluids is that they exhibit a depressed eco-toxicological impact with respect to traditional solvent blends
or monolayer boron nitride can allow the existing membranes to become thinner and more efficient with less fuel crossover and poisoning.
#Breakthrough in flexible electronics enabled by inorganic-based laser lift off Flexible electronics have been touted as the next generation in electronics in various areas ranging from consumer electronics to bio-integrated medical devices.
"Dr Ariberto Fassati, co-lead author from the Wohl Virion Centre (UCL Infection & Immunity), added:"
and deliver their therapeutic genes into the nucleus
#Researchers move ultrafast low-cost DNA sequencing technology a step closer to reality A team of scientists from Arizona State university's Biodesign Institute
and IBM's T. J. Watson Research center have developed a prototype DNA reader that could make whole genome profiling an everyday practice in medicine.
and protein diagnostic devices into every single doctor's office said Stuart Lindsay an ASU physics professor and director of Biodesign's Center for Single Molecule Biophysics.
Such technology could help usher in the age of personalized medicine where information from an individual's complete DNA
and therapy delivered from outside the cell which may also affect (and potentially harm) nearby normal cells.
In contrast to conventional cancer therapy a University of Cincinnati team has developed several novel designs for iron-oxide based nanoparticles that detect diagnose
and destroy cancer cells using photo-thermal therapy (PTT). PTT uses the nanoparticles to focus light-induced heat energy only within the tumor harming no adjacent normal cells.
The results of the UC work will be presented at the Materials Research Society Conference in Boston Nov 30-Dec 5 by Andrew Dunn doctoral student in materials science engineering in UC's College of Engineering and Applied science.
That means the photo-thermal effect of iron-oxide nanoparticles may show in the next decade a strong promise in human cancer therapy likely with localized tumors.
With this technology a low-power laser beam is directed at the tumor where a small amount of magnetic iron-oxide nanoparticles are present either by injecting the particles directly into the tumor
Sufficient heat is generated then locally by the laser light raising the tumor temperature rapidly to above 43 degrees Celsius
This particular PTT treatment does not involve any medicine but only generates local heat within the tumor therefore posing much less side effects than the traditional chemo or radiation therapies.
This treatment is much more ideal because it goes straight to the cancer cell says Shi.
Shi added that physicians are frustrated often with the current conventional means for early imaging of cancer cells through Medical Resonance Imaging
because the tumors are usually stage three or four before they can be detected. He stated With nanomaterial technology we can detect the tumor early
and kill it on sight at the same time. Each tumor has a corresponding protein that is cancer specific called a tumor specific ligand
or an antibody antigen reaction that only has expression for that specific cancer such as breast or prostate cancer.
Scientists identify this certain biomarker that is specific to a certain tumor then conjugates this biomarker on the surface of the nanocarrier that only has the expression for that specific kind of cancer cell.
It then only targets the abnormal cancer cell not normal healthy cells and because it is so small it can break the membrane
Future research in nanoparticle PTT will look at toxicity biodegradability and compatibility issues. Shi said that the team is currently looking for other diverse biodegradable materials to use for the carriers such as plant chlorophylls like those in cabbage that are both edible and photothermal.
and biodegradable and can potentially stay in the tumor cells until its job is finished then dissolve
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