 |
|
Promise of nanodiamonds for safer gene therapy
September 01, 2009Gene therapy holds promise in the treatment of a myriad of diseases, including cancer, heart disease and diabetes, among many others. However, developing a scalable system for delivering genes to cells both efficiently and safely has been challenging.
Now a team of Northwestern University researchers has introduced the power of nanodiamonds as a novel gene delivery technology that combines key properties in one approach: enhanced delivery efficiency along with outstanding biocompatibility.
"Finding a more efficient and biocompatible method for gene delivery than is currently available is a major challenge in medicine," said Dean Ho, who led the research. "By harnessing the innate advantages of nanodiamonds we now have demonstrated their promise for gene therapy."
Ho is an assistant professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science and a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.
Ho and his research team engineered surface-modified nanodiamond particles that successfully and efficiently delivered DNA into mammalian cells. The delivery efficiency was 70 times greater than that of a conventional standard for gene delivery. The new hybrid material could impact many facets of nanomedicine.
The results are published online by the journal ACS Nano.
"A low molecular weight polymer called polyethyleneimine-800 (PEI800) currently is a commercial approach for DNA delivery," said Xue-Qing Zhang, a postdoctoral researcher in Ho's group and the paper's first author. "It has good biocompatibility but unfortunately is not very efficient at delivery. Forms of high molecular weight PEI have desirable high DNA delivery efficiencies, but they are very toxic to cells."
Multiple barriers confront conventional approaches, making it difficult to integrate both high-efficiency delivery and biocompatibility into one gene delivery system. But the Northwestern researchers were able to do just that by functionalizing the nanodiamond surface with PEI800.
The combination of PEI800 and nanodiamonds produced a 70 times enhancement in delivery efficiency over PEI800 alone, and the biocompatibility of PEI800 was preserved. The process is highly scalable, which holds promise for translational capability.
The researchers used a human cervical cancer cell line called HeLa to test the efficiency of gene delivery using the functionalized nanodiamonds. Glowing green cells confirmed the delivery and insertion into the cells of a "Green Fluorecent Protein (GFP)"-encoding DNA sequence. This served as a demonstrative model of how specific disease-fighting DNA strands could be delivered to cells. As a platform, the nanodiamond system can carry a broad array of DNA strands.
Regarding toxicity measurements, cellular viability assays showed that low doses of the toxic high-molecular PEI resulted in significant cell death, while doses of nanodiamond-PEI800 that were three times higher than that of the high-molecular weight PEI revealed a highly biocompatible complex.
Ho and his research team originally demonstrated the application of nanodiamonds for chemotherapeutic delivery and subsequently discovered that the nanodiamonds also are extremely effective at delivering therapeutic proteins. Their work further has shown that nanodiamonds can sustain delivery while enhancing their specificity as well.
Having demonstrated the safety of nanodiamonds and their applicability toward a variety of biological uses, Ho's team is pursuing aggressively the steps necessary to push them towards clinical relevance. Current studies are boosting the targeting capabilities of the nanodiamonds while also evaluating their pre-clinical efficiency.
"There's a long road ahead before the technology is ready for clinical use," Ho said, "but we are very pleased with the exciting properties and potential of the nanodiamond platform."
Northwestern University
Ho is an assistant professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science and a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.
Ho and his research team engineered surface-modified nanodiamond particles that successfully and efficiently delivered DNA into mammalian cells. The delivery efficiency was 70 times greater than that of a conventional standard for gene delivery. The new hybrid material could impact many facets of nanomedicine.
The results are published online by the journal ACS Nano.
"A low molecular weight polymer called polyethyleneimine-800 (PEI800) currently is a commercial approach for DNA delivery," said Xue-Qing Zhang, a postdoctoral researcher in Ho's group and the paper's first author. "It has good biocompatibility but unfortunately is not very efficient at delivery. Forms of high molecular weight PEI have desirable high DNA delivery efficiencies, but they are very toxic to cells."
Multiple barriers confront conventional approaches, making it difficult to integrate both high-efficiency delivery and biocompatibility into one gene delivery system. But the Northwestern researchers were able to do just that by functionalizing the nanodiamond surface with PEI800.
The combination of PEI800 and nanodiamonds produced a 70 times enhancement in delivery efficiency over PEI800 alone, and the biocompatibility of PEI800 was preserved. The process is highly scalable, which holds promise for translational capability.
The researchers used a human cervical cancer cell line called HeLa to test the efficiency of gene delivery using the functionalized nanodiamonds. Glowing green cells confirmed the delivery and insertion into the cells of a "Green Fluorecent Protein (GFP)"-encoding DNA sequence. This served as a demonstrative model of how specific disease-fighting DNA strands could be delivered to cells. As a platform, the nanodiamond system can carry a broad array of DNA strands.
Regarding toxicity measurements, cellular viability assays showed that low doses of the toxic high-molecular PEI resulted in significant cell death, while doses of nanodiamond-PEI800 that were three times higher than that of the high-molecular weight PEI revealed a highly biocompatible complex.
Ho and his research team originally demonstrated the application of nanodiamonds for chemotherapeutic delivery and subsequently discovered that the nanodiamonds also are extremely effective at delivering therapeutic proteins. Their work further has shown that nanodiamonds can sustain delivery while enhancing their specificity as well.
Having demonstrated the safety of nanodiamonds and their applicability toward a variety of biological uses, Ho's team is pursuing aggressively the steps necessary to push them towards clinical relevance. Current studies are boosting the targeting capabilities of the nanodiamonds while also evaluating their pre-clinical efficiency.
"There's a long road ahead before the technology is ready for clinical use," Ho said, "but we are very pleased with the exciting properties and potential of the nanodiamond platform."
Northwestern University
Nanodiamonds Current Events and Nanodiamonds News RSSNanodiamonds deliver insulin for wound healing
Bacterial infection is a major health threat to patients with severe burns and other kinds of serious wounds such as traumatic bone fractures.
New Tool for Next-Generation Cancer Treatments using Nanodiamonds
A research team at Northwestern University has demonstrated a tool that can precisely deliver tiny doses of drug-carrying nanomaterials to individual cells.
Charcoal evidence tracks climate changes in Younger Dryas
A new study reports that charcoal particles left by wildfires in sediments of 35 North American lake beds don't readily support the theory that comets exploding over the continent 12,900 years ago sparked a cooling period known as the Younger Dryas.
6 North American sites hold 12,900-year-old nanodiamond-rich soil
Abundant tiny particles of diamond dust exist in sediments dating to 12,900 years ago at six North American sites, adding strong evidence for Earth's impact with a rare swarm of carbon-and-water-rich comets or carbonaceous chondrites, reports a nine-member scientific team.
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.
Nanoengineers mine tiny diamonds for drug delivery
Northwestern University researchers have shown that nanodiamonds -- much like the carbon structure as that of a sparkling 14 karat diamond but on a much smaller scale -- are very effective at delivering chemotherapy drugs to cells without the negative effects associated with current drug delivery agents.
Extraterrestrial Impact Likely Source of Sudden Ice Age Extinctions
At the end of the Pleistocene era, wooly mammoths roamed North America along with a cast of fantastic creatures - giant sloths, saber-toothed cats, camels, lions, tapirs and the incredible teratorn, a condor with a 16-foot wingspan.
Research team says extraterrestrial impact to blame for Ice Age extinctions
What caused the extinction of mammoths and the decline of Stone Age people about 13,000 years ago remains hotly debated. Overhunting by Paleoindians, climate change and disease lead the list of probable causes. But an idea once considered a little out there is now hitting closer to home.
Diamond by-product of hydrogen production and storage method
There may not be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but there appears to be nanocrystalline diamonds at the end of a process to produce and store hydrogen using anthracite coal.
Argonne theorist gains new insight into the nature of nanodiamond
The newest promising material for advanced technology applications is diamond nanotubes, and research at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory is giving new insight into the nature of nanodiamond.
More Nanodiamonds Current Events and Nanodiamonds News Articles
 |
Nanodiamonds: Applications in Biology and Nanoscale Medicine by Dean Ho (Editor) Nanodiamonds: Applications in Biology and Nanoscale Medicine highlights the translation of nanodiamonds toward clinical relevance and medical applications. Integrating a spectrum of internationally-recognized experts currently developing these technologies, this book fits as a cornerstone of this exciting field. These include contributions from clinician scientists working at the interface of medicine and nanotechnologies which discuss the critical and requisite properties of nanomaterials, in a concise and cohesive manner. Nanodiamonds: Applications in Biology and Nanoscale Medicine provides a multidisciplinary overview of nanodiamonds and there uses for scientific, engineering and clinical audiences alike. |
 |
Andis 67230 1" Nano-Diamond Ceramic Max Heat Flat Iron by Andis The Andis 1� Nano-Diamond Ceramic Max Heat Flat Iron heats up to 425 degrees in 30 seconds and features four heat settings for fine hair, normal hair, thick hair or coarse hair. High-tech nano-diamond ceramic generates infared heat, styling hair from the inside out and leaving it soft and beautiful. Style more hair, faster with 25% longer and smoother plates. Continuous high heat eliminates hot spots and ceramic plates preserve moisture and create incredible luster and shine. Designed and engineered in the United States, Andis also offers a complete line of quality clippers and trimmers for consumers and animal grooming as well as a full line of wall mounted hair dryers for the hotel industry. Andis warrants its products to the original purchaser against defective material or... |
 |
Ultrananocrystalline Diamond: Synthesis, Properties, and Applications by Olga A. Shenderova (Author), Dieter M. Haber (Author), Olga A. Shenderova (Editor), Dieter M. Haber (Editor) Ultrananocrystalline Diamond: Syntheses, Properties, and Applications is a unique practical reference handbook that brings together the basic science of nanoscale carbon structures, particularly its diamond phase, with detailed information on nanodiamond synthesis, properties, and applications. Here you will learn about UNCD in its two forms, as a dispersed powder made by detonation techniques and as a chemical vapor deposited film. You will also learn about the superior mechanical, tribological, transport, electrochemical, and electron emission properties of UNCD for a wide range of applications including MEMS, NEMS, surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices, electrochemical sensors, coatings for field emission arrays, photonic and RF switching, biosensors, and neural prostheses, and more.... |
 |
Synthesis, Properties and Applications of Ultrananocrystalline Diamond: Proceedings of the NATO ARW on Synthesis, Properties and Applications of Ultrananocrystalline ... II: Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry) by Dieter M. Gruen (Editor), Olga A. Shenderova (Editor), Alexander Ya. Vul' (Editor) Ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) is one of the important triad of nanostructured carbons which includes fullerenes and nanotubes. This new kind of diamond composed of 3–5 nm crystallites is an exemplar par excellence of the profound changes in properties that can accompany the reduction in size of a material to low single digit nanometer dimensions. UNCD occurs in two forms: as a dispersed powder made by detonation techniques and as a chemical vapor deposited film. Two communities of scientists, each focused on one of these fields, had up to now, been working independently of each other largely unaware of the vast synergistic relationships existing between them. The NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW), the basis for the Proceedings, was held June 7–10 in St. Petersburg, Russia... |
 |
Nano- and Micro-crystalline Diamond Films and Powders by Valeri Ligatchev (Author) Nano- and micro-crystalline diamond films and powders exhibit a plethora of unique optical, electrical, photoelectrical, thermal and mechanical properties, which make these materials to be a choice for various applications: from the traditional jewellery industry to prospective particle detectors in high-energy physics and sophisticated quantum computers. In spite of several decades of intensive studies and outstanding achievements, interrelations in between structural and morphological characteristics of such materials on the one side, and their macroscopic (e.g. optical, photoelectrical and electrical) parameters on another side, are still far from comprehensive understanding. This mainly originates from the fact that well-developed formalism of physics of perfectly periodic... |
 |
Andis Elevate Nano-diamond Ceramic Digital Flat Iron by Andis Andis Elevate Nano-Diamond Ceramic Digital Flat Iron has 25% longer plates to starighten hair faster! |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |