RNA interference provides potential cures for various diseases by silencing the expression of specific genes in specific organs, but delivering the RNA molecules to the right place is very difficult. A novel nanoparticle provides unprecedented efficiency in silencing target genes in liver cells.
Gold nanoparticles densely coated with RNA molecules intended to silence a gene essential for an incurable brain cancer proved effective in mice engrafted with human glioblastoma multiforme tumor.
Nanoparticles made from specific DNA and RNA strands, homogeneous in size, composition, and surface chemistry, proved superior to other nanoparticles in silencing gene expression in tumors in mouse experiments.
To counter the threat of evolved or engineered resistance of pathogenic bacteria to antibiotics, Darpa proposes to use nanotechnology to develop “Rapidly Adaptable Nanotherapeutics”.
A poll of NewScientist readers selected medical nanorobots as the technology that will have the biggest impact on human life in the next 30 years.
Protein, RNA, DNA provide very different molecular architectures for nanotechnology to adopt to deliver drugs to cancer cells while sparing healthy cells.
‘Good Cholesterol’ nanoparticles are non-toxic and use the need of cancer cells for HDL cholesterol to deliver RNA molecules to silence the expression of cancer-promoting genes.
Porous silica nanoparticles covered with a lipid bilayer deliver large doses of drugs and kill cancer cells a million fold better than do simple liposomes.
Gold nanoparticles carrying nucleic acids into a cell must have the nucleic acids tightly linked via covalent bonds to avoid profound, unanticipated effects on gene expression.
Another promising nanotech approach to harnessing the potential of siRNA molecules is to pack them on the surface of gold nanoparticles.
