Researchers at Ohio University, partnered with the University of Texas at Houston, have discovered small particles that could cause blood clotting, which could lead to heart attacks and lung cancer.
This research is important because it provides the first suggestion for how the particles interact in the human body
said Tadeusz Malinski, a researcher in OU's chemistry and biochemistry department who co-authored the study. It will appear in an upcoming edition of the British Journal of Pharmacology.
Along with the researchers at the University of Texas Health and Science Center at Houston, Malinski worked with Magdalena Drews, a post-doctoral fellow in chemistry and biochemistry.
Using rats as test subjects, the researchers examined the effect of carbon nanoparticles - commonly released into the environment by engine exhaust - on human platelets, which helps form blood clots, according to an OU Research Communications news release.
Biological nanosensors, which Malinski developed, were used to monitor the carbon nanoparticles' effect in the bloodstream, he said.
Of the six carbon nanoparticles researchers studied, only one was found that did not harm the body. Malinski said. He said the rest contributed to blood clotting which is harmful to blood flow and can induce cancer.
Nanoparticles are also a part of continuing cancer research in the medical field. While they are not yet in use, scientists believe nanoparticles could be used in anti-cancer drug delivery systems and several other applications, according to the news release.
Nanomedicine has the potential for many good applications Malinski said, but the problem is that nanomedicine can be harmful.
A lesson of this research is that using nanotechnology - the ability to build materials and products with atomic precision - for medical purposes can have harmful effects on humans, Malinski said.
Because this research is so new, researchers are still trying to figure out how nanotechnology works, said Andrea Gibson, director of research communication.
As part of the NanoBioTechnology Initiative, the university set aside $8 million in the spring to be used over the next six years for research on cancer and diabetes.
This initiative is to promote the development of nanotechnology for many applications especially in the medical field
Malinski said.
The initiative is part of a major new interdisciplinary research project on campus, Gibson said.
In 2003 the office of the vice president for research requested that faculty submit research proposals as part of the university's mission to improve research. Twenty faculty members submitted proposals, and three major areas - medical and health research, physics and astronomy and environmental pollution - were chosen by the senior administration of OU as research priorities, Gibson said.
These priorities were chosen because they focus on key areas that are already successful and bring outside revenue to the projects through grants, Gibson said. She said areas of research were combined to form bigger research teams and receive more external funding.
Part of the reason nanotechnology is being studied under the three main research initiatives is because it is a growing field of research that has many potential applications, Gibson said.
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