Search results for "Nanoparticle"

mRNA-Based Vaccines

2021

Increases in the world’s population and population density promote the spread of emerging pathogens. Vaccines are the most cost-effective means of preventing this spread. Traditional methods used to identify and produce new vaccines are not adequate, in most instances, to ensure global protection. New technologies are urgently needed to expedite large scale vaccine development. mRNA-based vaccines promise to meet this need. mRNA-based vaccines exhibit a number of potential advantages relative to conventional vaccines, namely they (1) involve neither infectious elements nor a risk of stable integration into the host cell genome; (2) generate humoral and cell-mediated immunity; (3) are well-t…

Magnetite Nanoparticles Prepared By Spark Erosion

2016

Abstract In the present research, we study a possibility of using the electric spark erosion method as an alternative to the method of chemical co-precipitation for preparation of magnetic nanoparticles. Initiation of high frequency electric discharge between coarse iron particles under a layer of distilled water allows obtaining pure magnetite nanoparticles.

Could allergen-specific immunotherapy benefit from the use of nanocarriers?

2016

Allergen-specific immunotherapy: challenges The total number of people suffering from allergic diseases increased dramatically during recent decades. Allergic reactions of the immediate type (type I hypersensitivity reactions according to classification by Coombs and Gell) involve an overreaction of the immune system and the formation of IgE

Recent advances in the use of nanoparticles for allergen-specific immunotherapy

2017

The number of patients suffering from allergic asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis has increased dramatically within the last decades. Allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) is the only available cause-oriented therapy so far. AIT reduces symptoms, but has also a disease-modifying effect. Disadvantages are a long-lasting procedure, and in a few cases potential systemic adverse reactions. Encapsulation of allergens or DNA vaccines into nanostructures may provide advantages compared to the conventional AIT with noncapsulated allergen extracts: The protein/DNA molecule can be protected from degradation, higher local concentrations and targeted delivery to the site of action appear possible, and most…

Atomistic Simulations of Functional Gold Nanoparticles Au144(Sr)60 Interacting with Membranes

2013

Gold nanoparticles (AuNps) are used in nanomedicine in, e.g., drug delivery and bio-imaging. However, it is regrettable that the understanding of nanoparticle properties in cellular surroundings is incompletely understood. Here, we have complemented our previous studies [1] by performing extensive atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of lipid membranes interacting with charged gold nanoparticles. We have elucidated the action of these nanoparticles on membranes characterized by lipid compositional asymmetry in the two leaflets, thereby unraveling the interactions of AuNPs with both the extracellular and the cytosolic sides of plasma membranes of eukaryotic cells. We have found that ther…

Ligand density on nanoparticles: A parameter with critical impact on nanomedicine

2019

Nanoparticles modified with ligands for specific targeting towards receptors expressed on the surface of target cells are discussed in literature towards improved delivery strategies. In such concepts the ligand density on the surface of the nanoparticles plays an important role. How many ligands per nanoparticle are best for the most efficient delivery? Importantly, this number may be different for in vitro and in vivo scenarios. In this review first viruses as "biological" nanoparticles are analyzed towards their ligand density, which is then compared to the ligand density of engineered nanoparticles. Then, experiments are reviewed in which in vitro and in vivo nanoparticle delivery has b…

The membrane toxicology of rods and spheric zinc oxide nanoparticles

2018

Coupling tumor necrosis factor‐related apoptosis‐inducing ligand to iron oxide nanoparticles increases its apoptotic activity on HCT116 and HepG2 mal…

2019

International audience; Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) has been considered as a potential anticancer agent owing to its selectivity for malignant cells. However, its clinical use remains limited because of its poor efficacy. Attempts to increase its antitumor activity include, among others, its functionalization by nanoparticles (NPs). In the present study, TRAIL was grafted onto magnetic spinel iron oxide NPs of defined core size, 10 and 100 nm on average, to see whether the size of the resulting nanovectors, NV10 and NV100, respectively, might affect TRAIL efficacy and selectivity. Apoptosis induced by NV10 and NV100 was higher than by TRAIL alone in both …

Angular Trapping of Anisometric Nano-Objects in a Fluid

2012

We demonstrate the ability to trap, levitate, and orient single anisometric nanoscale objects with high angular precision in a fluid. An electrostatic fluidic trap confines a spherical object at a spatial location defined by the minimum of the electrostatic system free energy. For an anisometric object and a potential well lacking angular symmetry, the system free energy can further strongly depend on the object's orientation in the trap. Engineering the morphology of the trap thus enables precise spatial and angular confinement of a single levitating nano-object, and the process can be massively parallelized. Since the physics of the trap depends strongly on the surface charge of the objec…

Physico-chemical investigation of the state of cyanamide confined in AOT and lecithin reversed micelles

2004

Sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (AOT) and lecithin reversed micelles containing cyanamide have been investigated by small-angle X-ray scattering, FT-IR, and 1H NMR spectroscopy at various cyanamide-to-surfactant molar ratio (X) and at fixed surfactant concentration (0.1 mol kg-1). Experimental data are consistent with a model of cyanamide molecules confined in reversed micelles, quite uniformly distributed among them and mainly located among surfactant headgroups. SAXS data analysis leads also to hypothesize a unidimensional growth of the reversed micelles with increasing the X value. Moreover, the cyanamide state and the cyanamide/cyanamide interactions in reversed micelles have bee…