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Inert nanoshells succumb to iron will
Iron-doped silica nanoparticles breakdown more rapidly than their undoped counterparts in blood serum, researchers say. Credit: ACS US chemists have made silica nanoshells susceptible to breakdown by proteins in our bodies, which should make them safer fo
US chemists have made silica nanoshells susceptible to breakdown by proteins in our bodies, which should make them safer for drug delivery and medical imaging applications. William Trogler and and colleagues at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) doped nanoshells with iron, which can be absorbed by proteins like transferrin in blood serum. ‘The idea was that living systems would take this iron out of its sites in the silica nanoparticle and the structure would fall apart,’ Trogler tells Chemistry World. He hopes that this will enhance the chances that a real-time ultrasound tumour imaging technique being developed by his co-author Andrew Kummel and UCSD surgeon Sarah Blair will be approved for use. More...
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2012/08/inert-nanoshells-succumb-iron-will
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