FLORIDA: Researchers Find Nanomaterials Triple Or Quadruple Life Of Brain Cells

[Murray Charters <mcharters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

ScienceDaily Magazine
Contact: editor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Source:
University Of Central Florida


Date:
2003-08-14

University Of Central Florida Researchers Find That Nanomaterials Developed For 
Industry Triple Or Quadruple Life Of
Brain Cells

ORLANDO, Aug. 13, 2003 -- A molecular biologist and a nanoscientist at the 
University of Central Florida have found
that nanomaterials developed for industry have an unexpected and potentially 
revolutionary side effect: They can triple
or quadruple the life of brain cells.

The result is people could live longer and with fewer age-related health 
problems.

Beverly Rzigalinski, assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Biology 
and Microbiology and at the
Biomolecular Sciences Center, and Sudipta Seal, associate engineering professor 
at the Advanced Materials Processing
and Analysis Center and the Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace 
Engineering, will receive $1.4 million
from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging to study 
the reasons behind the reaction and
possible future applications.

Rzigalinski has spent the bulk of her career on NIH-funded research from the 
National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke studying how brain cells "talk" to each other, most 
recently focusing on microglia -- a
specialized cell that responds to brain injury and initiates the response to 
either repair or destroy the damaged
neuron. Seal creates nanostructure materials and recently developed a process 
for engineering particles on a nanoscale -
- so they might have more efficient industrial applications.

Because of the current flurry of publicity that anti-oxidants have received for 
their potential anti-aging properties,
Rzigalinski decided to explore introducing the miniaturized particles to the 
brain cells of rats.

"In culture, rat brain cells usually live about three weeks," Rzigalinski said. 
"The cells exposed to the engineered
nanoparticles lived three to four times longer."

To confirm the results, Rzigalinski, the grant's principal investigator, 
repeated the process multiple times and found
that cells exposed to a single dose of engineered nano-oxide particles 
routinely outlived the untreated cells by three-
to four-fold, with the longest living cell lasting 123 days.

Rzigalinski then explored the quality of the aged neurons and found they were 
signaling or "talking" to each other in
the same manner as their youthful counterparts. "This shows there is a 
potential not just to extend the life span but
to preserve function," she said.

Seal has worked on developing oxide particles for high temperature production 
since his undergraduate days in the late
1980s. In 2000, as he took over the coordination of UCF's nanotechnology 
initiative, he and a student developed
ultrafine nano-sized powders and solutions. The particles, less than 10 
nanometers (about 30 atoms) in size, not only
offered a more efficient coating for use in machines but also opened the door 
for biological studies in collaboration
with Rzigalinski.

When a university research administrator aware of the work of each scientist 
introduced the two, the possibilities
immediately began forming. "This type of cross-disciplinary partnership is what 
we dream about," said Pallavoor
Vaidyanathan, assistant vice president for research. It is also critical to 
forging frontiers in nanoscience.

Research in the medical profession suggests that a major component of aging is 
free radical damage to cells. Free
radical scavengers, often taken in the form of vitamins, can counter the damage 
to a very limited degree. A
regenerative nanoparticle, such as the one developed by Rzigalinski and Seal, 
offers promise of negating those problems
and could be helpful in treatment of certain age-related disorders -- such as 
Alzheimer's disease -- as well as
arthritis and other joint-related problems, Rzigalinski says.

Most recently, the Rzigalinski lab has found that the nanoparticles have potent 
anti-inflammatory properties. The
investigators plan to explore the possibility of creating a coating from the 
particles that could be used for vascular
and orthopedic implants, stents and other devices that are prone to 
inflammatory reactions.

Initial tests show that the nanoparticle anti-oxidants regenerate once they 
penetrate the cell -- meaning one dose
could conceivably continue its therapeutic effects indefinitely.

Rzigalinski introduced the collaboration to her colleagues at the NATURE 
biotechnology symposium in Miami earlier this
year. She has also submitted an abstract on the project to the National and 
International Neurotrauma Symposium, and
Society for Neuroscience.

Nanotechnology is considered the new frontier of science, and it could 
revolutionize modern medicine in the future. The
potential for creating new materials at a size capable of being absorbed by 
human cells calls for a new type of
scientist -- one who can collaborate across seemingly unrelated disciplines. 
Combining the fields of biomolecular
science with engineering offers a significant step in that direction.

Pappachan Kolattukudy, director of UCF's Biomolecular Science Center and a 
consultant on the project, said the
collaboration is part of a strategy that UCF is going to be using increasingly 
in building its presence in the
biomolecular sciences.

"We are concentrating on building interfaces between areas in which we have 
strengths," Kolattukudy said.

Vimal Desai, director of AMPAC, said that nanomaterials are currently 
considered highly strategic for important
applications ranging from homeland security to just plain good health.

"It is so good to be able to build bridges for an interdisciplinary effort 
through competent and dynamic researchers at
UCF," Desai said.

This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University Of Central 
Florida.

The University Of Central Florida


SOURCE: ScienceDaily Magazine


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