July 3, 2017 by Ryan O'hare Nanomedicine could help patients with fatal lung conditions. Credit: Imperial College London
Metallic nanomolecules capable of carrying drugs to exactly where they are needed could one day help to treat patients with a fatal lung condition.
Scientists based at Imperial College London have tested a new type of nanoparticle called metal organic frameworks (MOF) tiny metal cages less than 100 nanometres across that can be loaded with drug molecules which they believe could potentially be used to treat patients with a devastating condition called pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).
In PAH the blood vessels of the lungs constrict and thicken, increasing blood pressure and causing the right side of the heart to work harder and harder, until it eventually fails. The condition is rare but devastating and can affect people of all ages, including babies, young adults and the elderly. Patients in the late stage of the disease have few treatment options beyond transplant, with a mean survival time of around five years following diagnosis.
While there is no cure for PAH, existing treatments work by opening up these blood vessels. These drugs act on blood vessels throughout the body, however, causing blood pressure to drop and resulting in a number of side effects which means the dose at which these drugs can be given is limited.
In their latest study, published online in Pulmonary Circulation, the multidisciplinary group at Imperial describes how it has taken the first in a number of steps to develop nanoparticles which could deliver drugs directly to the lungs, showing that the basic structures are not harmful to cells.
Professor Jane Mitchell, from the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial, who led the research, said: "The hope is that using this approach will ultimately allow for high concentrations of drugs we already have to be delivered to only the vessels in the lung, and reduce side effects. For patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, it could mean we are able to turn it from a fatal condition, to a chronic manageable one."
Metallic cages for drug delivery
The tiny metallic structures composed of iron were made in the lab of Professor Paul Lickiss and Dr Rob Davies's, from the Department of Chemistry and by Dr Nura Mohamed during her PhD studies at Imperial. Dr Mohamed, who was funded by the Qatar Foundation, made the structures so existing drugs used to treat PAH could fit inside them.
These structures were tested in human lung cells and blood vessel cells, which were grown from stem cells in the blood of patients with PAH. The team found that the structures reduced inflammation and were not toxic to the cells.
Further tests showed that the MOFs were safe in rats, with animals injected with MOFs over a two-week period showing few side effects other than a slight build-up of iron in the liver.
"One of the biggest limitations in nanomedicine is toxicity, some of best nanomedicine structures do not make it past the initial stages of development as they kill cells," said Professor Mitchell. "We made these prototype MOFs, and have shown they were not toxic to a whole range of human lung cells."
MOFs are an area of interest in nanomedicine, with engineers aiming to develop them as carriers which can hold onto drug cargo, releasing it under specific conditions, such as changes in pH, temperature, or even when the nanostructures are drawn to the target area by magnets outside the body.
Beyond the finding that their iron nanostructures were non-toxic, the team believes the MOFs may have additional therapeutic properties. There was evidence to suggest anti-inflammatory properties, with the MOFs reducing the levels of an inflammatory marker in the blood vessels, called endothelin-1, which causes arteries to constrict. In addition, iron is also a contrast agent, meaning it would show up on scans of the lungs to show where the drug had reached.
The MOFs have not yet been tested in patients, but the next step is to load the tiny metallic structures with drugs and work out the best way to get them to target their cargo to the lungs. The researchers are confident that if successful, the approach could move to trials for patients, with a drug candidate ready to test within the next five years. The MOFs could potentially be delivered by an inhaler into the lung, or administered by injection.
"In this study we have proved the principle that this type of carrier has the potential to be loaded with a drug and targeted to the lung," explained Professor Mitchell. "This is fundamental research and while this particular MOF might not be the one that makes it to a drug to treat PAH, our work opens up the idea that this disease should be considered with an increased research effort for targeted drug delivery."
Explore further: Longer-lasting pain relief with MOFs
More information: Nura A. Mohamed et al. Chemical and biological assessment of metal organic frameworks (MOFs) in pulmonary cells and in an acute in vivo model: relevance to pulmonary arterial hypertension therapy, Pulmonary Circulation (2017). DOI: 10.1177/2045893217710224
To treat headaches, back pain or fever, most of us have reached for ibuprofen at one point or another. But we often have to take doses every four to six hours if the pain warrants it. Now scientists are working on a way to ...
People with a lung scarring condition that leaves them fighting for breath could be helped by a new medication, research suggests.
A recent US study of people treated for cancer as children from the 1970s to 1999 showed that although survival rates have improved over the years, the quality of life for survivors is low. It also showed this was worse for ...
(HealthDay)Uptravi (selexipag) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension, a disabling lung disease that often leads to death or the need for lung transplant.
New blood biomarkers reflecting vasoreactivity in lung blood vessels of patients with heart- and lung disease, can lead to simplified diagnostics and better evaluation of treatment for patients with the condition pulmonary ...
(Medical Xpress) -- Scientists at UCD have identified a potential new treatment for life-threatening complications associated with chronic obstructive lung diseases like emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Chronic obstructive ...
(Phys.org)Neuroprostheses, neural probes and other intraneural tissue implants have offered remarkable benefits to recipients in a number of areas in neuroscience research and biomedical applications, therapeutic examples ...
As embedded intelligence is finding its way into ever more areas of our lives, fields ranging from autonomous driving to personalized medicine are generating huge amounts of data. But just as the flood of data is reaching ...
Squid-inspired proteins can act as programmable assemblers of 2D materials, like graphene oxide, to form hybrid materials with minute spacing between layers suitable for high-efficiency devices including flexible electronics, ...
(Phys.org)One of the most promising microscale power sources for portable and wearable electronics is a micro-supercapacitorthey can be made thin, lightweight, highly flexible, and with a high power density. Normally, ...
An international research team that includes University of Central Florida Professor Enrique del Barco, Damien Thompson of the University of Limerick and Christian A. Nijhuis of the National University of Singapore has cracked ...
Metallic nanomolecules capable of carrying drugs to exactly where they are needed could one day help to treat patients with a fatal lung condition.
Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute. Read more
View original post here:
Nano-sized drug carriers could be the future for patients with lung disease - Phys.Org
- Nano Medicine: Meaning, Advantages and Disadvantages - BioTechnology Notes - December 18th, 2022
- www.the-scientist.com - December 18th, 2022
- Applications of Nanotechnology - National Nanotechnology Initiative - December 18th, 2022
- Nanotechnology Timeline | National Nanotechnology Initiative - October 29th, 2022
- Nano based drug delivery systems: recent developments and future ... - October 21st, 2022
- The Application of Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials in Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment: A Review - Cureus - September 16th, 2022
- 'Glass bubble' nanocarrier boosts effects of combination therapy for pancreatic cancer - UCLA Newsroom - September 16th, 2022
- International Conference (Sep. 15-17) on Advances in Molecular Diagnostics and Precision Medicine (AMDP-2022.. - ETHealthWorld - September 16th, 2022
- Reebok Nano X2 Adventure Review: A Wild Way to Log Your Workouts - Gear Patrol - August 30th, 2022
- PhD within Particle Engineering job with NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - NTNU | 306487 - Times Higher Education - August 30th, 2022
- Nanoparticles' Role in Eliminating Cancer Cells - MedTech Outlook - August 22nd, 2022
- The first female astronaut from a North African nation will be a Tunisian military aviator - Atalayar - August 22nd, 2022
- Fast and noninvasive electronic nose for sniffing out COVID-19 based on exhaled breath-print recognition | npj Digital Medicine - Nature.com - August 22nd, 2022
- Reebok's Nano X2 Adventure Helps You Take Your Workouts Anywhere - Gear Patrol - August 14th, 2022
- How Houston's nonprofit funds early research that leads to breakthroughs like the COVID vaccine - Houston Chronicle - August 14th, 2022
- Ponce Therapeutics Executes Worldwide Exclusive License to Speratum Biopharma's Nano-in and No-Pass Mimic Nanoparticle Technologies in Anti-Aging and... - July 27th, 2022
- Nanorobots Market to close to USD 19576.43 million with CAGR of 12.23% during the forecast period to 2029 - Digital Journal - July 27th, 2022
- Aviceda Therapeutics Announces Key Opinion Leader in Ophthalmology Drug Development Tarek S. Hassan, MD to Join Management Team as Chief Development... - July 27th, 2022
- Second Sight Medical Products Announces Year Four NIH Funding of its Orion Study - Business Wire - July 19th, 2022
- Columbia Business School and Columbia Engineering to Offer New "Dual MBA/Executive MS in Engineering and Applied Science" Program - Yahoo... - July 19th, 2022
- Internet of Nano Things Market is Poised to Grow at a CAGR of 24.12% during the Forecast Period of 2022-2031 - Digital Journal - July 11th, 2022
- Notable Thermal and Mechanical Properties of New Hybrid Nanostructures - AZoM - July 11th, 2022
- Eggshell and bioceramics: Break an egg to fix a tooth or two - BusinessLine - July 11th, 2022
- Nanomedicine in Central Nervous System Injury and Repair Market Share, Regional Growth Analysis, Upcoming Trends, Growth Factors and Leading... - July 11th, 2022
- Nanorobotics Market 2022 Research Report Analysis from Perspective of Segmentation and Industry Growth 2030 Designer Women - Designer Women - July 11th, 2022
- Artificial Intelligence in Medical Diagnostics Market Worth $9.38 Billion by 2029 - Exclusive Report by Meticulous Research - GlobeNewswire - July 11th, 2022
- $2.38M to test nano-engineered brain cancer treatment in mice - University of Michigan News - June 22nd, 2022
- New Amrita Hospital is all set to open in Faridabad in August this year; 2,400-bed facility will become Indias biggest private hospital - The... - June 22nd, 2022
- Global Advanced Functional Materials Market To Be Driven By The Surging Demand From Medical Sector In The Forecast Period Of 2021-2026 Designer Women... - June 22nd, 2022
- An effective nano drug delivery and combination therapy for the treatment of Tuberculosis | Scientific Reports - Nature.com - June 13th, 2022
- Nanotechnology is poised to shape the future of Healthcare - ETHealthWorld - June 4th, 2022
- New Silence ALS Initiative is Giving Hope to Nano-Rare Patients - BioSpace - June 4th, 2022
- Nanotechnology in the Global Medical Applications Market 2022, Featuring Profiles of Abbott, Abraxis Bioscience, Elan, Orthovita, EyePoint... - May 15th, 2022
- Nano state: tiny and now everywhere, how big a problem are nanoparticles? - The Guardian - May 2nd, 2022
- Nanomedicine Market to 2030 Insights and Forecast with Impact of COVID-19 | Abbott Laboratories, DiaSorin S.p.A, Invitae Corporation, Mallinckrodt... - May 2nd, 2022
- Cancer and Nanotechnology - National Cancer Institute - April 19th, 2022
- Nanobots/Nanorobots Market Overview, Merger and Acquisitions , Drivers, Restraints and Industry Forecast By 2028 - Digital Journal - April 19th, 2022
- ERDC researchers analyze resilience in nanotechnology supply chains - erdc.usace.army.mil - April 19th, 2022
- Nano Products Online Store | Nanoproducts, Nanoparticles ... - April 6th, 2022
- The Conrad Prebys Foundation to Support the Discovery and Development of Personalized ASO Medicines for Nano-rare Patients - Business Wire - March 25th, 2022
- Space the next frontier for cancer treatment? - Australian Jewish News - March 25th, 2022
- ViaCyte Strengthens Management Team with Appointment of Alyssa Levin as Chief Financial Officer and Addition of Lisa Porter, MD, to the Board of... - January 20th, 2022
- Surface Modification and Size Contribute to Nanoplastic Toxicity - AZoNano - January 20th, 2022
- Frontiers | Nanomedicine: Principles, Properties, and ... - January 5th, 2022
- Nanotechnology In Medicine: Huge Potential, But What Are ... - January 5th, 2022
- Stem Cell Mimicking Nanoencapsulation for Targeting Arthrit | IJN - Dove Medical Press - January 5th, 2022
- 2009 show based on conspiracy theories is shared as proof of WHO working on COVID-19 vaccines to create permanent sterility - Factly - January 5th, 2022
- How to Improve Infectious Diseases with Nanotechnology - CIO Applications - January 5th, 2022
- Biodistribution of sphingolipid nanoemulsions with 68Ga | IJN - Dove Medical Press - August 31st, 2021
- Matrix Meats Adds to Team as Interest in Cultivated Meat Grows - PRNewswire - July 21st, 2021
- Nanomedicine in Central Nervous System Injury and Repair Market Report- Trends Key Programs Analysis and Competitive Landscape Analysis The Manomet... - June 23rd, 2021
- Nanomedicine is transforming healthcare innovation - Korea IT Times - June 6th, 2021
- The Future of Cancer Treatment Using Nanotechnology - AZoNano - June 6th, 2021
- Thomas Jefferson Awards Highlight Research and Service to the University - UVA Today - June 6th, 2021
- Global Nanobots Market 2020 | Research Report Covers | (COVID-19 Analysis) | Industry Research, Drivers, Top Trends | Global Analysis And Forecast to... - October 31st, 2020
- Nanox Signs With Ambra Health to Enable Image Access and Transfer with US Hospitals and Medical imaging Providers - BioSpace - October 31st, 2020
- Global Nano Therapy Market- Industry Analysis and Forecast (2020-2027) - Stock Market Vista - October 29th, 2020
- What is Nanoscience? | Outlook and How to Invest | INN - Investing News Network - September 23rd, 2020
- Interview: The NDB team on its revolutionary nano-diamond batteries - New Atlas - August 29th, 2020
- Opportunities in the World Nanotechnology Market to 2025 - Application of Nanotechnology in Wastewater Treatment and Enhanced Renewable Energy Driving... - August 12th, 2020
- Cellics Therapeutics Announces the Publication of Cellular Nanosponges Inhibit SARS-CoV-2 Infectivity in Nano Letters - BioSpace - June 17th, 2020
- Nanocellulose Market to Reach USD 1.08 Billion by 2027 | CAGR:20.4% | Reports And Data - PRNewswire - June 17th, 2020
- Coronavirus threat to global Healthcare Nanotechnology (Nanomedicine) Market 2020 Industry Share, Size, Consumption, Growth, Top Manufacturers, Type... - June 15th, 2020
- Kanazawa University Research: Cell Removal as the Result of a Mechanical Instability - PR Newswire UK - June 15th, 2020
- Impact of Covid-19 on Nano Chemotherapy Market is Expected to Grow at an active CAGR by Forecast to 2026 | Top Players Dell Wyse, IBM, Microsoft -... - June 15th, 2020
- Evergreen Medical Acupuncture is now offering its own supplement and herbal products, Dr. Ficks Functional Farmacy! - TippNews DAILY - June 10th, 2020
- Inolife is going to revolutionize how we take our medicine - BNNBloomberg.ca - May 24th, 2020
- Recent Progress and Future Directions: The Nano-Drug Delivery System f | IJN - Dove Medical Press - May 10th, 2020
- The future of medicine - Switzer Financial News - May 10th, 2020
- All your questions about how to wear a face mask -- answered - Action News Now - April 26th, 2020
- Edited Transcript of NANO earnings conference call or presentation 6-Feb-20 9:30pm GMT - Yahoo Finance - February 11th, 2020
- Kanazawa University Research: Combined Drug Treatment for Lung Cancer and Secondary Tumors - Yahoo Finance - February 11th, 2020
- Immix Doses First Patient in USA in its Phase 1b/2a Trial in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors - BioSpace - February 11th, 2020
- Nano Medicine: Meaning, Advantages and Disadvantages - February 6th, 2020
- The Future Of Nano Medicine - February 6th, 2020
- VVUS Stock Jumps 70% on FDA Nod for New Formulation of Pancreaze - MicroSmallCap - February 6th, 2020
- Is the Lieber Arrest Linked to Military Brain Research and China? - Bryen's Blog - February 6th, 2020
- A Chelate-Free Nano-Platform for Incorporation of Diagnostic and Thera | IJN - Dove Medical Press - January 10th, 2020
- Examine Triple Negative Breast Cancer Treatment Market expected to reach US$ 720 mn by 2026 - WhaTech Technology and Markets News - January 10th, 2020
- Triple Negative Breast Cancer Treatment Market Combining Therapies - Communal News - January 10th, 2020