UCLA researchers outline the structure of the largest non-virus particle ever crystallizedNovember 27, 2007Researchers at UCLA, the California NanoSystems Institute, the David Geffen School of Medicine, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have modeled the structure of the largest cellular structure ever crystallized, suggesting ways to engineer the particles for drug delivery. The study, which focuses on newly engineered nanomaterial vaults for use as a drug therapy vehicle, will be published online this week in the open-access journal PLoS Biology. Vaults are large barrel-shaped particles that are found in the cytoplasm of all mammalian cells, which may function in innate immunity. As naturally-occurring nano-scale capsules, vaults may be useful objects to engineer as therapeutic delivery vehicles. For the study, the team of researchers proposed an atomic structure for the thin outer shell of the vault. "Our draft model is essentially an atomic-level vault with a completely unique structure-like a barrel with staves-it is unlike any other large structure found in nature," said Leonard H. Rome. "The outside of the vault structure is like an eggshell; a continuous protective barrier with no gaps."
The shell is made up of 96 identical protein chains, each of 873 amino acid residues, folded into 14 domains. Each chain forms an elongated stave of half the vault, as well as the cap of the barrel-like shell. "These nano-structured vaults offer a human-friendly nano-container, like a molecular level C5A transport jet, with a cargo hold large enough to encompass a whole ribosome with their hundreds of proteins and nucleic acids, or enough drugs to control a cell," said David Eisenberg. The construction of the draft atomic model lays the foundation for further studies of vaults and will guide projects of vault engineering with the intention towards targeted release of vault contents for drug delivery. Public Library of Science | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Related Drug Delivery Current Events and Drug Delivery News Articles Nanodiamond drug device could transform cancer treatment A Northwestern University research team has developed a promising nanomaterial-based biomedical device that could be used to deliver chemotherapy drugs locally to sites where cancerous tumors have been surgically removed. Simulations help explain fast water transport in nanotubes By discovering the physical mechanism behind the rapid transport of water in carbon nanotubes, scientists at the University of Illinois have moved a step closer to ultra-efficient, next-generation nanofluidic devices for drug delivery, water purification and nano-manufacturing. Normalizing tumor vessels to improve cancer therapy Chemotherapy drugs often never reach the tumors they're intended to treat, and radiation therapy is not always effective, because the blood vessels feeding the tumors are abnormal-"leaky and twisty" in the words of the late Judah Folkman, MD, founder of the Vascular Biology program at Children's Hospital Boston. Biodegradable polymers show promise for improving treatment of acute inflammatory diseases A family of biodegradable polymers called polyketals and their derivatives may improve treatment for such inflammatory illnesses as acute lung injury, acute liver failure and inflammatory bowel disease by delivering drugs, proteins and snips of ribonucleic acid to disease locations in the body. Breaking the 'mucus barrier' with a new drug delivery system Chemical engineers from Johns Hopkins University have broken the "mucus barrier," engineering the first drug-delivery particles capable of passing through human mucus - regarded by many as nearly impenetrable - and carrying medication that could treat a range of diseases. Those conditions include lung cancer, cervical cancer and cystic fibrosis, the research noted in a presentation scheduled for the 236th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. Erectile dysfunction drugs allowed more chemotherapy to reach brain tumors in laboratory study In a study using laboratory animals, researchers found that medications commonly prescribed for erectile dysfunction opened a mechanism called the blood-brain tumor barrier and increased delivery of cancer-fighting drugs to malignant brain tumors. Cancer drug delivery research at Case Western Reserve University cuts time from days to hours Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have developed a technique that has the potential to deliver cancer-fighting drugs to diseased areas within hours, as opposed to the two days it currently takes for existing delivery systems. 'Smart' materials get smarter with ability to better control shape and size A dynamic way to alter the shape and size of microscopic three-dimensional structures built out of proteins has been developed by biological chemist Jason Shear and his former graduate student Bryan Kaehr at The University of Texas at Austin. Plants in the fourth dimension As anyone who has suffered from jetlag knows, we have internal clocks that tell us when to sleep and wake, and we can be miserable when these are disrupted. OptiNose presents data on highly effective migraine treatment OptiNose announced today that it presented important new data demonstrating the superior performance of its novel nasal drug delivery device with sumatriptan for the treatment of migraines. More Drug Delivery Current Events and Drug Delivery News Articles |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||