Scientists developed a nano-thermometer that can measure internal temperatures within cells. The methodology uses the properties of a modified molecular rotor and the viscosity of the cell. This technology can be applied to determine your cancer treatment’s effects, where intense heat is used to destroy tumors.

The paper on a the nano-thermometer was written by the physicist Angel Marti in the research group’s laboratory. The laboratory team developed a biocompatible molecular rotor known as boron dipyrromethene (NANO-DIPY) to introduce the temperature in a single cell.

The fluorescence of BIODIPY in living cells use the environment around them like temperature and viscosity and lasts only a little. Depending on the temperature and the viscosity of the environment, the fluorescence lifetime varies.

Because the technique depends on the rotor, Martí and Rice graduate student and lead author Meredith Ogle constrained the rotor to go back and forth, like the flywheel in a watch, rather than letting it rotate fully.

“If the environment is a bit more viscous, the molecule will rotate slower,” Martí said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s colder or hotter, just that the viscosity of the environment is different.”

It means that the light turns off at a certain rate at a specified temperature, which can be viewed with a fluorescent-lifetime imaging microscope.

“We found out that if we constrain the rotation of this motor, then at high viscosities, the internal clock — the lifetime of this molecule — becomes completely independent of viscosity,” he said. “This is not particularly common for these kind of probes.”

The method depends on a rotor which is dependent on a team. The rotor must be made to turn like a flywheel in a watch, but compared to letting it rotate fully, it was constricted to do so.  They calculate when the molecule is in a strong energy level, which depends on the object’s speed. The rotor wobbles faster, when the temperature increases, .

Full details of the work appear in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B.

Sources:
www.sciencedaily.com
news.rice.edu
www.nanowerk.com

Researchers at the University of Helsinki and the Universities of Finland and Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China have teamed up to create a nanomedicine for targeted cancer chemotherapy. The newest innovative technology allows for groundbreaking cell-based nanomedicine to be utilized for cancer treatment.

Nanomedicine is helping to bring new kinds of noninvasive cancer treatment to fruition. The potential for nanomedicine lies in its ability to integrate the attributes that natural biomaterials offer and the engineerability of synthetic nanoparticles.

Different compounds are present at the cellular origin of extracellular vesicles, including proteins and RNA. Now, scientists are combining these sacs with synthetic nanomaterials to prepare anticancer drugs that are extremely effective.

Exosome-based nanomedicines have increased cancer accumulation, extravasation from the bloodstream and deep tumor penetration in advanced stages after intravenous administration.

“This study highlights the importance of cell-based nanomedicines”, says the principal investigator and one of the corresponding authors of this study, Hélder A. Santos, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Finland.

Nanoparticles based drug delivery systems have particularly promising healing power in cancer. Nanoparticles are often functionalized with targeted antibodies, peptides, or other biomolecules to increase their success with tumors. Such targeting ligands may sometimes have an adverse influence on the particle size as a result of the enhanced immune responses.

The unique functionalities of natural biomaterials is combined by biomimetic nanoparticles, such as bioengineering versatility of synthetic nanoparticles, and cell membranes or cells, that can be used as an efficient drug delivery platform.

Results have shown that the synthetic delivery system is able to target tumors more efficiently by mimicking the human body’s cellular structures. The nanomedicine is able to spread in the body more efficiently without triggering a natural response from the immune system.

The developed biocompatible exosome-sheathed porous silicon-based nanomedicines for targeted cancer chemotherapy resulted in augmented in vivo anticancer drug enrichment in tumor cells.

“This demonstrates the potential of the exosome-biomimetic nanoparticles to act as drug carriers to improve the anticancer drug efficacy”, Santos concludes.

Photo credit: Pexels/Chokniti Khongchum
Source:
helsinki.fi
goodnewsfinland.com
medica-tradefair.com

Children have the ability to create intriguing ideas and incredible inventions. Here are some of them that have survived the test of time.

Here we explore some of the most unique and effective innovations brought forth by youngsters.

The popsicle

Water or milk-based frozen snack on a stick as an ice pop. Unlike ice cream or sorbet, which are mashed while freezing by whipping to prevent the emergence of ice crystals, an ice cube is frozen while at rest and becomes a solid block of ice.

An 11-year-old boy named Frank Epperson, back in 1905, a San Francisco Bay Area accidentally invented the summertime treat.
His idea never left him, but he didn’t make an attempt to promote it right away, although he patented it in 1924.

Swimming flippers

As an 11-year-old, he wanted to be an entrepreneur in Boston when he invented an oval-shaped engineering device that consisted of holes. Dozens of other inventions like bifocals, the lightning rod are invented by Benjamin Franklin. Initially, his push slipped onto his hands, whereas shortly thereafter we moved to our feet.

A possible cancer cure

During high school, Angela Zhang worked with a Stanford grad student to research the cancer-fighting potential of a single nanoparticle. The results of the research put her in the middle of the science fair circuit. In 2011, she competed in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology, where she garnered a $100,000 scholarship, and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, where the results of her cancer-killing nanoparticle research brought her first-prize awards.

She developed the technology of a specialized nanoparticle system to explain dangerous material in cells without negatively affecting health, and in initial tests on mice, she had been able to demonstrate that the impact was a near-complete replacement of tumors. The judges were full of admiration for her work so they awarded her the $100,000 grand prize. She’s now studying at Harvard, and Her motivation to establish a youth science advocacy association led to the forming of a nonprofit called Labs on Wheels to help other young people gain access to the science and math opportunities that she’s gained so much opportunity from.

The trampoline

Image Credit: Kevin K via Flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.

A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame using many coiled springs. For most people today, the trampoline has been something that has always been around. Plenty of people have fun memories of jumping on a trampoline in their own or a friend’s backyard during the spring or summer.

But what about the history of the trampoline? Who got the idea to invent the first trampoline, and what gave that person that idea? The version of the trampoline dates back to the early 20th century when 16-year-old George Nissen wanted to build a contraption to safely lift gymnasts and trapeze artists up in the air following their drops.

The Nissen Trio gymnastic troupe was a famous troupe of the past. In 2000, the tiny trampoline reached its highest measurement ever due to an event that occurred in the Sydney Olympics.

A safety device for textile mills

Margaret Knight was born in York, Maine in 1838, and witnessed a serious accident at the age of 12 as she was working in textile mills from a young age. At that age, she started thinking for ways to prevent this from happening. She developed a safety device that would halt production on the machines when there was something caught in them.

Like many other inventors, starting at a young age, this was just the beginning to her inventions. Later she invented other successful inventions such the machine that folds and the bottoms of paper bags was glued, which is still used today to produce the grocery store bags.

Photo by Pragyan Bezbaruah from Pexels