Magnetic nanoparticles navigate therapeutic genes through the body
PTB measures the pinpointed transport of therapeutics for cardiovascular diseases
Magnetic nanoparticles can support or even enable gene transfer under clinically relevant experimental conditions. For the transduction of human cells, gene carriers were coupled to magnetic nanoparticles and dragged into the cells by magnetic field gradients. The efficiency of magnetic transduction turned out to be much higher than the nonmagnetic procedure. An additional welcome side effect is the "magnetization" of the cells after the incorporation of nanoparticles. This may enable the targeted transport of the cells to regions of interest. A closer look at the underlying mechanism of magnetic gene transfer was taken by the quantification of the magnetic material that was delivered to the cells. The required highly sensitive measurements in the range of a few picogramm per cell were made by PTB using magnetorelaxometry. The good correlation between measurement data and gene transfer encourages to use magnetorelaxometry for monitoring the efficiency of gene and cell transfer, possibly even in vivo.
Original publications: Combined targeting of lentiviral vectors and positioning of transduced cells by magnetic nanoparticles; PNAS 106 (1), S.44-49.
Most read news
Topics
Organizations
Other news from the department science
These products might interest you
NANOPHOX CS by Sympatec
Particle size analysis in the nano range: Analyzing high concentrations with ease
Reliable results without time-consuming sample preparation
Eclipse by Wyatt Technology
FFF-MALS system for separation and characterization of macromolecules and nanoparticles
The latest and most innovative FFF system designed for highest usability, robustness and data quality
DynaPro Plate Reader III by Wyatt Technology
Screening of biopharmaceuticals and proteins with high-throughput dynamic light scattering (DLS)
Efficiently characterize your sample quality and stability from lead discovery to quality control
Get the chemical industry in your inbox
From now on, don't miss a thing: Our newsletter for the chemical industry, analytics, lab technology and process engineering brings you up to date every Tuesday and Thursday. The latest industry news, product highlights and innovations - compact and easy to understand in your inbox. Researched by us so you don't have to.