Cells’ electric fields keep nanoparticles at bay, scientists confirm

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Universitat Jaume I in Castellón, Spain, have figured out why the membranes that enclose our cells can push away nanoparticles that approach them. The researchers discovered that this repulsion – which notably affects neutral, uncharged nanoparticles – happens in part because smaller, charged molecules the electric field attracts crowd the membrane and push away the larger nanoparticles. Since many drug treatments are built around proteins and other nanoparticles that target the membrane, the repulsion could play a role in the treatments' effectiveness.