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Drug Delivery

Chemistry In Pictures

Chemistry in Pictures: Nanoparticles get a lift

by Celia Henry Arnaud
September 6, 2018

 

A red blood cell floats around with a few dozen ball-shaped nanoparticles stuck to it.
Credit: Nat. Commun.

Your parents might have warned you against hitchhiking, but for nanoparticle drug carriers, it’s a good thing. These particles can hitch a ride on red blood cells. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania incubated nanoparticles (green) with red blood cells from mice and then injected the cells and their passengers back into the animals through an arterial catheter. The nanoparticles accumulated in the first organ they encountered downstream of the injection site. Such an approach could be used to deliver drugs for acute conditions such as heart attacks and embolic strokes for which the standard of care already involves the use of arterial catheters.

To read about this technique, check out the story by Celia Arnaud.

Credit: Nat. Commun.


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