Nano, nano. Here's another article.

Kathleen

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=8908.php

2009/1/14 schild.m <[log in to unmask]>

> Magnetic Nanotubes May Help Treat Sufferers of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's
> Diseases
>
>
>
>
>  Electrical engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas have
> demonstrated that magnetic nanotubes combined with nerve growth factor can
> enable specific cells to differentiate into neurons. The results from in
> vitro studies show that magnetic nanotubes may be exploited to treat
> neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's
> disease because they can be used as a delivery vehicle for nerve growth
> factor.
> PC12 cell culture with nerve growth factor-incorporated magnetic nanotubes:
> Micrograph image of a typical PC12 cell with cell body and neurites. The
> inset is a magnified image of the growth cone area.  PC12 cell culture with
> nerve growth factor-incorporated magnetic nanotubes: Micrograph image of a
> typical PC12 cell with cell body and neurites. The inset is a magnified
> image
> of the growth cone area.
>  "Due to their structure and properties, magnetic nanotubes are among the
> most promising candidates of multifunctional nanomaterials for clinical
> diagnostic and therapeutic applications," said Jining Xie, research
> assistant
> professor and lead author of the study. "We're excited about these results
> specifically and the overall promise of functionalized nanotubes to treat
> patients with these debilitating conditions."
> Xie, Linfeng Chen, senior research associate in the Center for Wireless
> Nano-,
> Bio- and Info-Tech Sensors and Systems, and researchers from Arkansas State
> University worked with rat pheochromocytoma, otherwise known as PC12 cells.
> PC12 cells were chosen because they require nerve growth factor - a small,
> secreted protein that helps nerve cells survive - to differentiate into
> neurons.
> The researchers knew that any sign of nerve growth would indicate
> interactions
> between the PC12 cells and the nanotubes. They observed neurite growth,
> specifically filopodia - slender projections that extend from the leading
> edge of migrating cells - extruding from neurite growth cones toward the
> nanotubes incorporated with nerve growth factor.
> "Microscopic observations showed filopodia extending from the growth cones
> were in close proximity to the nanotubes, at time appearing to reach out
> toward or into them," Xie said.
> The results did not show any abnormal toxicity from the nanotubes.
> The human nervous system depends upon a complex network of neurons, or
> nerve
> cells, tied to each other by synapses. The synaptic connections occur
> through
> neurites, which are immature or developing neurons. When these connections
> fail, the nervous system does not function properly, eventually leading to
> injury or disease. As Xie mentioned, the researchers hope that
> functionalized
> nanotubes can help restore or repair damaged nerve cells.
> Xie collaborates with Vijay Varadan, distinguished professor of electrical
> engineering and director of the Center for Wireless Nano-, Bio- and
> Info-Tech
> Sensors and Systems, which is supported by the National Science
> Foundation's
> Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. Another
> collaborator
> was Malathi Srivatsan, associate professor of biology at Arkansas State
> University in Jonesboro, Ark.
> Varadan holds the College of Engineering's Twenty-First Century Endowed
> Chair
> in Nano- and Bio-Technologies and Medicine and the college's Chair in
> Microelectronics and High Density Electronics. In addition to his position
> as
> director of the above center, he directs the university's High Density
> Electronics Center. Varadan is also a professor of neurosurgery in the
> College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in
> Little Rock, Ark.
> The researchers' findings were published in Nanotechnology, an Institute of
> Physics Publishing journal. An online version of the article is available
> at
> http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/-search=60067076.1/0957-4484/19/10/105101 .
>
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