Alzheimer’s disease, in spite of being the sixth main cause of death in the US, has only five drug treatments approved, due to the failure of drug development for central nervous system (CNS) diseases in clinical trials. This is caused by the selective permeability of the blood-brain-barrier (BBB). The BBB plays a critical role in the protection of the CNS against toxins and other harmful compounds. However, the BBB also prevents drugs, especially large molecules, developed for CNS disorders (such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, Parkinson’s disease and amylotrophic lateral sclerosis) to reac ..read more

Liposome vaccine technology Several applications of liposomes have been reported in the delivery of vaccine antigens. Liposomes can be used as carriers for vaccine delivery where antigens can be encapsulated in the core, embedded in the bilayer and/or adsorbed or engrafted to the outer Surface. Although there are several formulations to obtain liposomes, cationic and fusogenic liposomes seems to be the most efficiency systems to deliver the vaccine antigens because their have a robust affinity for the negatively-charged biological membrane and they are able to be fused with this membrane to di ..read more

GOLD NANOMATERIALS APPLICATIONS: THE ROLE OF THE SHAPE (NANORODS AND NANOSTARS) Gold nanomaterials have attracted attention scientific community over the last two decades. Gold nanospheres are a more well-known nanomaterial, in fact, they are widely employed in different bioapplications, and even gold nanospheres are used in commercial devices such as lateral flow assay (rapid test devices). The plasmonic properties of gold nanomaterials, as well as their biocompatibility and versatile surface functionalization, turn them into an attractive alternative for cancer imaging and treatment. People ..read more

Extracellular vesicles isolation–Developing new devices One of the main technical challenges to studying EVs is to isolate them without interfering with their structure, in order to be able to reveal their functions and to use them as biomarkers. Moreover, the new area of therapeutically using EVs needs clinical grade methods of isolation. Although ultracentrifugation is commonly used for isolation of EVs, it is highly time-consuming, requires an ultracentrifuge and results in relatively low recovery of EVs, and it causes non-vesicular macromolecule contamination and aggregation of EVs that ca ..read more

METAL NANOPARTICLES FOR SENSING (II): The role of metal nanoparticle surface in the development of SERS or SEF applications. As we mention in our previous post (GOLD NANOPARTICLE FOR SENSING (I)), the interaction between light and gold nanoparticle surface causes a collective oscillation of the electronic cloud of the metal leading also to the generation of strong electric fields on the nanoparticle surface. However, besides gold nanoparticles, there are other nanomaterials such as silver nanoparticles or alloyed gold silver nanoparticles which show typical LSPR bands in the visible range. The ..read more

PLGA nanoparticles in the ocular drug delivery The topical ocular administration of drugs has two different purposes: to treat superficial eye diseases, such as infections (e.g. conjunctivitis, blepharitis, keratitis sicca) and to provide intraocular treatment through the cornea for diseases such as glaucoma or uveitis.Compared with drug delivery to other parts of the body, ocular drug delivery has met with significant challenges posed by various ocular barriers. Ocular drug delivery efficiency depends on the barriers and the clearance from the choroidal, conjunctival vessels and lymphatic. Tr ..read more

    PLGA in Tissue Engineering The inability to deliver bioactive agents locally in a transient but sustained manner is one of the challenges on the development of bio-functionalized scaffolds for tissue engineering (TE) and regenerative medicine. The mode of release is especially relevant when the bioactive agent is a growth factor (GF), because the dose and the spatiotemporal release of such agents at the site of injury are crucial to achieve a successful outcome. Strategies that combine scaffolds and drug delivery systems have the potential to provide more effective tissue regene ..read more

Nanovex Biotechnologies has been selected as one of the Top 50 Nanotechnology Blogs on the web by Feedspot Top 50 Nanotechnology Blogs and Websites for the nanotechnology Community The post Top 50 Nanotechnology Blogs and Websites for the nanotechnology Community appeared first on EN Nanovex Biotechnologies SL ..read more

Microvesicles (MV) can be defined as a heterogeneous group of materials with distinct names: microparticles, ectosomes, exosomes, exosome like vesicles, shed vesicles or oncosomes, although all of them give a rough idea of the variety of biological sources. In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the research of submicrometer particles released to the environment by cells. Particularly, exosomes have caught the attention of scientist from different areas due to the potential source of information contained inside these particles. This information could be crucial for instance ..read more

The aim of this post is to explain how to choose the appropriate nanovesicle regarding its final application. Although nanovesicles have a lot of different applications, here we will discuss the most common: Intracellular delivery Controlled delivery In vitro assays In vivo assays Passive targeting Active targeting Gene delivery Diagnostics Theranostic Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals (Trans)dermal delivery Vaccine It is important to highlight that the intended application could entail simultaneously several of the above mentioned applications. For instance, an in vivo assay could be perf ..read more