(Funded by the National Institutes of Health)
Oregon State University researchers have discovered a way to get anti-inflammatory medicine across the blood-brain barrier, opening the door to potential new therapies for a range of conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and cancer cachexia. (The blood-brain barrier is a protective shield separating the brain from the bloodstream; it is made up of tightly packed cells lining the blood vessels in the brain and controls what substances can move from the blood to the brain.) The delivery method involves specially engineered nanoparticles. Tested in a mouse model, the nanoparticles reached their intended destination, the hypothalamus, and delivered a drug that inhibits a key protein associated with inflammation.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health)
Polymer-coated nanoparticles loaded with therapeutic drugs show significant promise for cancer treatment. Over the past decade, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a variety of these nanoparticles using a technique called layer-by-layer assembly. To help move these nanoparticles closer to human use, the researchers have now come up with a manufacturing technique that allows them to generate larger quantities of the nanoparticles in a fraction of the time. The researchers have filed for a patent on the technology and are now working with MIT’s Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation in hopes of potentially forming a company to commercialize the technology.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health)
Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of California, San Diego, have developed new technology that could lead to the creation of a rapid point-of-care test for HIV infection. The technology uses a nanomechanical platform and tiny cantilevers to detect multiple HIV antigens at high sensitivity in a matter of minutes. Built into a solar-powered device, this technology could be taken to hard-to-reach parts of the world, where early detection remains a challenge to deliver fast interventions to vulnerable populations without waiting for lab results.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health)
Researchers from the California NanoSystems Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, have developed a sensor technology based on natural biochemical processes that can continuously and reliably measure multiple metabolites at once. The sensors are built onto electrodes made of tiny cylinders called single-wall carbon nanotubes. These electrodes use enzymes and other molecules to perform reactions that mirror the body’s metabolic processes. Depending on the target metabolite, the sensors either detect it directly or first convert it into a detectable form through a chain of intermediary enzymatic reactions. The team measured metabolites in sweat and saliva samples from patients receiving treatment for epilepsy and detected a gut bacteria-derived metabolite in the brain that could cause neurological disorders if it accumulates.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health)
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a new process that transports DNA into cells using lipid nanoparticles. Unlike messenger RNA (mRNA), DNA remains active in cells for months, or even years, and can be programmed to work only in targeted cells. But past attempts to use lipid nanoparticles to deliver DNA failed, because DNA can trigger severe immune reactions. The researchers discovered that by adding a natural anti-inflammatory molecule, called nitro-oleic acid, to the lipid nanoparticles, these immune reactions could be eliminated. With this advancement, treated cells produced intended therapeutic proteins for about six months from a single dose – much longer than the few hours seen with mRNA therapies.