MAGNETIC nanoparticles targeted to nerve cell membranes can be used to remotely control cellular activity and even the simple reflex behaviours of nematode worms, according to research by a team of biophysicists at the University of Buffalo. The new method, which is described in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, could be very useful for investigating how cells interact in neuronal networks, and may eventually lead to new therapies for cancer and diabetes.
Heng Huang and her colleagues synthesized manganese-iron nanoparticles, each just 6 millionths of a millimeter in diameter, and coated with the bacterial protein straptavidin attached to a fluorescent molecule called DyLight549. Strepdavidin binds another molecule, much like a key fits into a lock, enabling specified cells to be targeted, while DyLight549 acts like a molecular thermometer, whose fluoresence intensity changes with temperature.
Mo Costandi 