Biotech Strategy Blog

Commentary on Science, Innovation & New Products with a focus on Oncology, Hematology & Cancer Immunotherapy

Posts tagged ‘nanomaterial’

Regenerative Medicine: Tissue Engineered Airway Transplant

Regenerative Medicine and the science behind replacing body parts with synthetic tissue engineered versions took another step forwards today after researchers announced they had transplanted a trachea made of a nanomaterial covered with the patient’s own cells.

Professor Seifalian and Clare Crowley UCL

Researchers from University College London led by Prof. Alexander Seifalian designed and built a polymer based nanocomposite tracheal scaffold, which was then seeded with the patient’s own stem cells.

After two days in a bioreactor (Harvard Bioscience), the cells and the synthetic trachea scaffold were transplanted last month at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm by Prof. Paolo Macchiarini and colleagues, into a patient with late stage tracheal cancer.

As reported by BBC health, and the press releases of University College London (UCL), Karolinska Institute and Harvard Bioscience, the 36 year old man is doing well and because the cells on the trachea were his own, no immunosuppressive drugs were needed.

In the UCL press release, Professor Seifalian said:

“What makes this procedure different is it’s the first time that a wholly tissue engineered synthetic windpipe has been made and successfully transplanted, making it an important milestone for regenerative medicine. We expect there to be many more exciting applications for the novel polymers we have developed.”

While this is still experimental research that needs to be validated in a clinical trial with more subjects, there is the potential for Professor Seifalian’s nanomaterial based tissue scaffold to be used for commercial medical devices such as coronary stents and grafts.

In addition to the development of a nanomaterial that can be used as a tissue scaffold, key to success of the transplant was the ability to grow and cover the engineered material with the patient’s own stem cells.  Harvard Bioscience have specifically designed a bioreactor to culture cells onto a graft for airway tissue reengineering.

As innovation in science drives new milestones in regenerative medicine, we can expect the market for tissue engineered products to grow as companies seek regulatory approval for commercial products.

Above all else, regenerative medicine offers major benefits for patients and the restoration of function and improved quality of life. Today’s news is yet another milestone that highlights the promise of regenerative medicine.

How nanotechnology may revolutionize the detection of traumatic brain injury using a sensor that changes color

The highlight of the recent Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ) annual meeting in Philadelphia (Health Journalism 2011) for me was the presentation by Kacy Cullen from the Center for Brain Injury and Repair in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania.

© Kacy Cullen, University of Pennsylvania

Dr Cullen presented his research on blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI) and the development of a nanomaterial containing photonic crystals that change color upon exposure to blast pressure.

In the same way that a radiation dosimeter badge records exposure to cumulative radiation for a hospital worker, so a helmet-mounted color badge would change color based on a soldier’s exposure to blast pressure; a common occurrence with improvised explosive devices (IED).

In a paper published in NeuroImage, Cullen and colleagues describe in detail a blast-injury dosimeter (BID) made from photosensitive polymers that is like a colored sticker.  This nanomaterial contains microscopic, diamond-like photonic crystals, whose ability to refract light is damaged in a precise way by the pressure from explosive blasts.

The result is a change in color that is related to the degree of pressure and blast intensity. What’s more because the photonic crystals are structurally damaged by the blast, further exposure leads to more widespread microstructural alterations and a further change in color.  In essence, the crystals have a memory for cumulative blast exposure.

Why is this important?

Many soldiers are exposed to blasts, but show no overt symptoms of traumatic brain injury.  Research has shown that repeated hits to the helmet of a football player can lead to brain injury without the obvious signs of a concussion.  Traumatic brain injury as a result of repeated exposure to blasts may also lead to mild cognitive impairment and the possibility of increased risk for dementia, Alzheimer’s disease later in life.  This has been seen in NFL players.

The research by Cullen and colleagues is still in the early stages of development.  In their paper they acknowledge some of the next steps such as calibrating the color changes to levels of blast exposure, and correlating these with traumatic brain injury.  Any blast injury dosimeter will also need to be field tested.

However, this work is promising and an example of how nanotechnology may impact the detection and diagnosis of those soldiers at risk of traumatic brain injury.

War related scientific research often leads to civilian applications. In the future, I could see nanotechnology stickers that change color with cumulative impact on the helmets of NFL, college or high school football players.

You can read more about this innovative research on how color changing photonic crystals detect blast exposure in the journal NeuroImage.

Update June 30, 2011

If you are interested in the exciting and innovative research being undertaken by Kacy Cullen and his team, there is now a website for The Cullen Laboratory and their work on Neural Engineering in Neurotrauma.

ResearchBlogging.orgCullen, D., Xu, Y., Reneer, D., Browne, K., Geddes, J., Yang, S., & Smith, D. (2011). Color changing photonic crystals detect blast exposure NeuroImage, 54 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.10.076

“Diamonds are Forever” – using nanodiamonds for drug delivery may improve the efficacy of cancer chemotherapy

Nanotechnology is set to have a major impact on drug development and new products for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.  Research from UCSF and Northwestern University published earlier this year in “Science Translational Medicine” shows this potential.

Edward Chow and colleagues describe how binding the cancer chemotherapy doxorubicin (DOX) to carbon nanoparticles 2-8nm in diameter in the form of a diamond, “nanodiamond” (ND), improved drug efficacy and overcame drug resistance.  Although this pre-clinical animal research has not yet been confirmed in humans, it raises the possibility of more efficient chemotherapies and the hope of increased survival rates as a result.

The conclusion from this research is that nanodiamonds may be a viable drug delivery platform for small molecules, proteins and nucleic acids. This technology could have an application in wide range of diseases.

Why is nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery more effective? The paper suggests one reason is that the nanodiamond-doxorubicin complex (NDX) allows for a more gradual release of DOX, allowing for increased tumor retention and increased circulation time.

It’s important to note that the NDX complex does not specifically target the drug efflux pumps, such as MDR1 and ABCG2 transporter proteins, responsible for chemoresistance. Instead the NDX complex appears to overcome drug resistance passively by the way DOX is released from the nanodiamond.

This research shows that taking old drugs and combining them with new drug delivery technology may offer therapeutic benefits.  The authors conclude that this research, “serves as a promising foundation for continued NDX development and potential clinical application.”

If successful in humans, it will translate into new product development and market opportunities for emerging biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies.

 

ResearchBlogging.orgChow, E., Zhang, X., Chen, M., Lam, R., Robinson, E., Huang, H., Schaffer, D., Osawa, E., Goga, A., & Ho, D. (2011). Nanodiamond Therapeutic Delivery Agents Mediate Enhanced Chemoresistant Tumor Treatment Science Translational Medicine, 3 (73), 73-73 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3001713

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