Slipping Drug-Bearing Nanoparticles Past the Immune System

Feb-04-13 Researchers have found a way to sneak medicine-delivery nanoparticles past the body’s vigilant immune system by cloaking the nanoparticles in white blood cells.

Nanoparticles are showing promise as drug-delivery devices, but they are often attacked by the body’s immune system, which lessens their efficiency. To allow the nanoparticles safe passage, scientists at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute used the lipids and proteins found in the membranes of immune system cells to coat the surface of the nanoparticles. The new particles, called "LeukoLike Vectors" (LLVs), look and act like cells, slipping past the body’s defenses to deliver their payload of drugs. The team believes that as the technology develops, the patient’s own white blood cells could be used to create personalized LLVs.

Image: Camouflaged nanoparticles (yellow) cloaked in the membranes of white blood cells rest on the surface of an immune system cell (phagocyte, blue) without being recognized, ingested, and destroyed.

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[MEDGADGET.COM]
[METHODIST HEALTH]

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