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Print Edition StoriesFriday, January 22, 2010
MIT, Harvard researchers discover nanoparticles to replace stents
By Mass High Tech staff
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MIT and Harvard University researchers have found a way to repair arteries damaged by cardiovascular disease using nanoparticles.
“Nanoburrs”, as the nanoparticles are called, cling to damaged vascular tissue with its protein-coated burrs. The nanoburrs then release cell growth inhibitors to the arteries, preventing scar tissue from forming. According to a report from MIT, the nanoburrs can be injected instravenously.
The research was first reported by MIT professor and serial entrepreneur Robert Langer and Harvard professor and Bind Biosciences co-founder Omid Farokhzad in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Both Langer and Farokhzad won Mass High Tech All Star awards in 2004 and 2009, respectively.
If approved and commercialized, the nanoburrs could replace the current cardiovascular treatment of using vascular stents to keep an artery passage open.
The researchers are now evaluating dosages of nanoburrs in rats for two weeks.
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