The remote control of reactions and processes in the interior of cells offers multiple possibilities to develop new therapeutic approaches in applications such as oncological hyperthermia, drug release or gene therapy. From the point of view of basic science, remote control of intracellular processes is also a fundamental tool to achieve a deeper knowledge of life at the molecular level. In this context, light is an external stimulus that allows controlling the functioning of cells and living beings with spatio-temporal resolution. As an example, the optogenetic application has shown that by means of photostimulation it is possible to control the cardiac rhythm or the neuronal activity of animals.

In order to achieve such a level of remote control by light, it is necessary to introduce exogenous agents into the cells, such as nanomaterials or "artificial" biomolecules, which can be light activated to initiate the desired response (generating local heat, releasing drugs, activating prodrugs or activating endogenous cellular processes such as synapses, cellular contraction, etc.). In this direction researchers Beatriz Pelaz and Pablo del Pino of the Bionanotools Group at CiQUS work, who present a new type of highly stable nanomaterial in physiological media that allows to release drugs inside the cell by means of light stimulation. The study, developed in collaboration with the groups of Ramón A. Álvarez Puebla (Universitat Rovira i Virgili) and Patricia Horcajada (IMDEA Energy), has been published in the prestigious journal Angewandte Chemie.

Intelligent porous material that is activated with light

The research team led by Pablo del Pino has focused on the manufacture and characterization of a new type of multicomponent nanomaterial, which includes a gold core that produces heat when illuminated, and a highly porous crust based on a MOF (Metal-Organic Framework) type material, which allows to encapsulate a large amount of drug per particle. In this way, drugs are retained in the MOF cortex, and only when light is applied they are released inside the cell, as demonstrated in this new work that includes living cells experiments.

The stability, modularity and versatility of this new type of intelligent porous material, make it highly competitive for multiple technological applications, not only in the biomedical field, but in others such as catalysis and energy.

Article: ‘Aqueous Stable Gold Nanostar/ZIF‐8 Nanocomposites for Light Triggered Release of Active Cargo Inside Living Cells’

Fuente: Center for Research in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Materials

https://www.usc.es/ciqus/es/noticias/nanomaterial-fotoactivable
Subscribe to Directory
Write an Article

Recent News

El diagnóstico genético neonatal mejor...

Un estudio con datos de los últimos 35 años, ind...

Más de 1.500 cambios epigenéticos en e...

Un equipo de investigadores de la Universidad Juli...

Tuneable reverse photochromes in the sol...

A new technique allows the design of solid materia...

Highlight

Eosinófilos. ¿Qué significa tener val...

by Labo'Life

​En nuestro post hablamos sobre este interesante tipo de célula del...

Un estudio de INCLIVA muestra el efecto ...

by INCLIVA

Han desarrollado un estudio para evaluar la correlación entre el teji...

Photos Stream