(Funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health)
Researchers from Georgia Tech and the University of California Riverside have developed biosensors made of iron oxide nanoparticles and special molecules called cyclic peptides that recognize tumor cells better than current biosensors. The cyclic peptides respond only when they encounter two specific types of enzymes – one secreted by the immune system, the other by cancer cells. In animal studies, the biosensors distinguished between tumors that responded to a common cancer treatment that enhances the immune system from tumors that resisted treatment.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health)
Most cancers occur when there is an imbalance of cellular growth and inhibition, causing cells to grow rapidly and form tumors in the body. In the case of prostate cancer, no therapies exist to simultaneously correct tumor growth and restore tumor suppression. To restore this balance, researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which is part of Harvard Medical School, have used lipid nanoparticles to deliver messenger RNA (mRNA) and small interfering RNA (siRNA) to human prostate cancer cells. This approach was successful in preclinical models, holding promise for suppressing tumor growth in patients.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. National Science Foundation)
Researchers from Georgia Tech, Emory University, and the University of California, Davis, have created a technique that could lead to new, less-invasive treatments for blood disorders and genetic diseases. “This would be an alternative to invasive hematopoietic stem cell therapies – we could just give you an IV drip,” said James Dahlman, one of the researchers involved in this study. “It simplifies the process and reduces the risks to patients.” The procedure uses lipid nanoparticles that carry genetic instructions to hematopoietic stem cells, but unlike current therapies, in this procedure, the nanoparticles don’t have targeting ligands, and they can dodge the liver, which acts as the body’s primary blood filter.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. National Science Foundation)
Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have modified lipid nanoparticles to not only cross the blood-brain barrier but also to target specific types of cells, including neurons. The researchers showed how short strings of amino acids can serve as precise targeting molecules, enabling the lipid nanoparticles to deliver mRNA specifically to the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels of the brain, as well as neurons. This breakthrough marks a significant step toward potential next-generation treatments for neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

(Funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health)
Scientists from The Ohio State University have combined strategies to deliver energy-disrupting gene therapy against cancer by using nanoparticles. Experiments showed the targeted therapy is effective at shrinking glioblastoma brain tumors and aggressive breast cancer tumors in mice. The approach consists of breaking up structures inside these cellular energy centers, called mitochondria, with a technique that induces light-activated electrical currents inside the cells. “Previous attempts to use a pharmaceutical reagent against mitochondria targeted specific pathways of activity in cancer cells,” said Lufang Zhou, one of the scientists involved in this study. “Our approach targets mitochondria directly, using external genes to activate a process that kills cells.”