(Press-News.org) BUFFALO, N.Y. -- In the images of fruit flies, clusters of neurons are all lit up, forming a brightly glowing network of highways within the brain.
It's exactly what University at Buffalo researcher Shermali Gunawardena was hoping to see: It meant that ORMOSIL, a novel class of nanoparticles, had successfully penetrated the insects' brains. And even after long-term exposure, the cells and the flies themselves remained unharmed.
The particles, which are tagged with fluorescent proteins, hold promise as a potential vehicle for drug delivery.
Each particle is a vessel, containing cavities that scientists could potentially fill with helpful chemical compounds or gene therapies to send to different parts of the human body. Gunawardena is particularly interested in using ORMOSIL -- organically modified silica -- to target problems within neurons that may be related to neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease.
The recent study on fruit flies is a step toward making this happen, demonstrating that long-term exposure to ORMOSIL, through breathing and feeding, did not injure the animals.
The research appeared in the journal PLoS ONE on Jan. 3.
"We saw that after feeding these nanoparticles in the fruit fly larvae, the ORMOSIL was going mainly into the guts and skin. But over time, in adult flies, you could see it in the brain. These results are really fascinating because these particles do not show any toxic effects on the whole organism or the neuronal cells," said Gunawardena, an assistant professor of biological sciences and a researcher in UB's Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics.
The ORMOSIL particles she is investigating are a unique variety crafted by a research group led by Paras N. Prasad, the UB institute's executive director. Each particle contains cavities that can hold drugs, which can be released when the particles are exposed to light.
Besides Gunawardena and Prasad, co-authors on the study include Farda Barandeh, Phuong-Lan Nguyen, Rajiv Kumar, Gary J. Iacobucci, Michelle L. Kuznicki, Andrew Kosterman and Earl J. Bergey, all from UB.
Gunawardena is an expert in axonal transport. This involves the movement of motor proteins along neurons' thread-like axon. These molecular motors, called kinesins and dyneins, carry "cargo" including vital proteins to and from the synapse and cell body of neurons.
In this neuronal highway system, one problem that can occur is an axonal blockage, which resembles a traffic jam in neurons. Proteins aggregate in a clump along the axon. (For videos showing both a normal axonal pathway and a blocked pathway, visit http://biology.buffalo.edu/Faculty/Gunawardena/gunawardena_lab/research.html.)
Researchers don't know whether these obstructions contribute to disorders such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's diseases, which are characterized by unusual build-ups of proteins called amyloids and Lewy bodies.
But the amyloid precursor protein involved in Alzheimer's disease has been shown to have a role in axonal transport, and if axonal obstructions do turn out to be an early indicator for neurodegeneration seen in Alzheimer's disease, eliminating blockages could help prevent or delay the onset of disease.
That's where ORMOSIL comes in: Gunawardena hopes to use these nanoparticles to target drugs to protein jams along axons, breaking up the accumulations.
Success, if possible, is still a long way off. But the potential benefit is great. Gunawardena calls the research a "high-risk, high-rewards" endeavor.
The next step is for her team to see if they can find a way to force the ORMOSIL to latch onto motor proteins. (The nanoparticles, on their own, do not move along axons.)
INFORMATION:
A photo of Gunawardena and images of ORMOSIL nanoparticles at work within neurons are available here: http://www.buffalo.edu/news/13116.
The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.
END
This year's 7th annual Counter Terrorist Magazine's Homeland Security Professionals conference is taking place at the Gaylord Palms in Orlando, Florida and big demand to hear the speakers is expected. Professionals won't just be attending from Florida's law enforcement, homeland security, Fire, rescue and emergency management. Past years have seen representatives from as far afield as Saipan and everywhere in the USA and Canada. This year's theme is expected to also draw significantly from private sector security.
"We are developing the best line up for our conference, ...
Philadelphia, PA, January 9, 2012 – New research reveals that insulin applied in therapeutic doses selectively stimulates the formation of new elastic fibers in cultures of human aortic smooth muscle cells. These results advance the understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms of diabetic vascular disease. The study is published in the February issue of the American Journal of Pathology.
"Our results particularly endorse the use of insulin therapy for the treatment of atherosclerotic lesions in patients with type I diabetes, in which the induction of new elastic ...
Traditional Chinese medicine has long been used to ease pain, treat disease, boost fertility, and prevent miscarriage. Known in the Western medical community by its acronym TCM, these traditional remedies include herbal preparations and acupuncture. Now Tel Aviv University researchers have discovered that a combination of TCM therapy and intrauterine insemination (IUI) is a winning solution for hopeful mommies who are having trouble conceiving.
In the first study that measures the effectiveness of both herbs and acupuncture in combination with IUI infertility treatment, ...
WASHINGTON (Jan. 9, 2011) — Melissa Perry, Sc.D., M.H.S., professor and chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the GW School of Public Health and Health Services and adjunct associate professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, led an observational study indicating that environmental exposure to organochlorine chemicals, including Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and p,p'-DDE (the main metabolite of the insecticide DDT) can affect male reproduction. The research was published online on Dec. 21, 2011 in the journal Environmental Health ...
The discovery of a gene that causes a form of hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) may provide scientists with an important insight into what causes axons, the stems of our nerve cells, to degenerate in conditions such as multiple sclerosis.
In the Journal of Clinical Investigation today, an international team of scientists led by Dr Evan Reid at the University of Cambridge, and Dr Stephan Zuchner from the University of Miami, report that mutations in the gene known as 'reticulon 2' on chromosome 19 cause a form of HSP, a condition characterised by progressive stiffness ...
Davon Kelly, CEO of NOVAD Management Consulting will be honored on January 26, 2012 when Washington's SmartCEO magazine honors its 'Future 50 Award' recipients. The SmartCEO/Clifton Gunderson Future 50 Award recognizes 50 area companies based on revenue and employee growth over a three-year period. This year's Future 50 companies boast $11.7 billion in collective revenues and manage more than 30,000 employees in the Greater Washington area.
NOVAD, founded in 2003, has rapidly grown to 15 full-time employees, augmenting its staff with 15 independent contractors. Since ...
San Jose, Calif., Jan. 9, 2012 – Aria Diagnostics (formerly Tandem Diagnostics), a molecular diagnostics company, today announced publication of data supporting a directed, non-invasive approach to cell-free DNA (cfDNA) analysis in maternal blood for evaluation of two common fetal trisomies linked to genetic disorders. The results, assessing the detection of Trisomy 21 (associated with Down syndrome) and Trisomy 18 (associated with Edwards syndrome), were published online at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pd.2922/full.
"Our ability to identify pregnancies ...
NEW YORK (DATE) -- The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced the discovery of a spectacularly colored snake from a remote area of Tanzania in East Africa.
The striking black-and-yellow snake is called Matilda's horned viper. It measures 2.1 feet (60 centimeters) and has horn-like scales above its eyes.
The discovery is described in the December issue of Zootaxa. Authors of the study include: Michele Menegon of Museo delle Scienze of Trento, Italy; Tim Davenport of the Wildlife Conservation Society; and Kim Howell of the University of Dar es Salaam.
The ...
Researchers at the University of Iowa have worked out the exact function of an enzyme that is critical for normal muscle structure and is involved in several muscular dystrophies. The findings, which were published Jan. 6 in the journal Science, could be used to develop rapid, large-scale testing of potential muscular dystrophy therapies.
The enzyme, called LARGE, adds a critical sugar chain onto an important membrane protein called dystroglycan. This sugar chain acts like a glue allowing dystroglycan to attach to other proteins and by doing so, reinforce cell membranes ...
Research by UT Dallas engineers could lead to more-efficient cooling of electronics, producing quieter and longer-lasting computers, and cellphones and other devices.
Much of modern technology is based on silicon's use as a semiconductor material, but research recently published in the journal Nature Materials shows that graphene conducts heat about 20 times faster than silicon.
"Heat is generated every time a device computes," said "Dr. Kyeongjae "KJ" Cho, associate professor of materials science and engineering and physics at UT Dallas and one of the paper's authors. ...
