Nov 2 2006, 11:47 AM EST
News source: Business Wire
Scientists today released the first live video footage of calcifying nanoparticles, or CNPs, that might play a basic role in calcifying diseases ranging from heart disease to prostate disease and kidney stones. Calcification is a harmful condition found in most diseases on the leading-cause-of-death list, including cardiovascular disease -- the nation's single leading cause of death. Even the lesser problem of kidney stones results in more than one million doctor visits and 250,000 hospitalizations every year.
"We used a new, high-definition Nikon microscope system, validated with a new award-winning system from Aetos Technologies, which allowed real-time tracking of calcifying nanoparticles (CNPs) at a size of around 100 nanometers," explained Dr. Neva Ciftcioglu, Science Director of Nanobac Pharmaceuticals, which produced the video. "Before these technologies were created recently, we had to chemically treat the nanoparticles to see below the 200 nanometer threshold, which kept us from observing live processes."
This video, for the first time, illustrates: 1) A decalcifying agent dissolving calcified structures while the particles inside seem unaffected and are released to potentially begin the calcification process again. 2) By contrast, inorganic crystals exposed to the same agent are dissolved without releasing nanoparticles.
"Although preliminary, this is a significant scientific and medical finding," observed Dr. Arnold Mandell, professor emeritus at UCSD School of Medicine, research professor at the Emory University School of Medicine and a MacArthur Prize Fellow in the medical sciences. "It brings new scientific support to earlier findings that the pathophysiology of calcification in vascular and other organ systems might involve calcifying nanoparticles. More generally, it suggests that an as yet to be fully explored universe of nanoparticles might play critical roles in medical disorders. It also supports previous evidence that these particles can be viewed as distinct from inorganic crystals and form the basis for an exciting and independent area of research." Dr. Mandell was present as an independent observer when the results were announced by Nanobac scientists.
"While these are early findings, we believe they merit serious investigation," explained Nanobac Co-Chairman Dr. Benedict Maniscalco. "Further investigation of these particles will be necessary to determine if this is the first step toward proving a biological mechanism for calcifying diseases, and will hopefully lead to drug therapies to treat calcification. These results, which were obtained from animal sourced particles, will now be applied to particles obtained from human blood."
Evidence of CNPs was first reported in the 1990s, by Nanobac scientists and other scientists in peer-reviewed journals. The new video was first unveiled at a recent invitation-only Auburn University conference of leading microscopy and biomedical scientists, organized by the Fetzer Memorial Trust. The Trust specializes in supporting leading-edge medical technologies, and has been collaborating with Nanobac on this project since early 2006.
For a copy of the video click on link. For more information, or to schedule a briefing/interview please contact Sanda Pecina (202)367-1622, specina@akerpartners.com, or Carson Chandler (202)367-1625, cchandler@akerpartners.com.
Caption for video: Video microscopy shows impacts of a decalcifying agent on calcified structures similar to those found in disease-related calcification. In the opening segments, the agent comes in contact with calcified structures. Those semi-transparent structures then disintegrate, and nanoparticles, seen as black dots, are released. The released nanoparticles accumulate in large amounts as the process continues, transported by capillary action in the fluid. In the final video segment, inorganic calcium phosphate crystals -- us
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