Magnetic nanoparticles navigate therapeutic genes through the body
Health professionals send genes and healthy cells on their way through the bloodstream so that they can, for example, repair tissue damage to arteries. But do they reach their destination in sufficient quantities? Scientists of the PTB have developed a highly sensitive measuring method with which the efficiency of this therapy can be investigated: Small magnetic particles which are situated on the planted gene or on the planted cell can with the aid of an external magnetic field be specifically directed to the location of the damage. There the researchers determine, accurate to the picogram per cell, the quantity of the magnetic material – and thus also the quantity of the therapeutically effective genes or cells. In a joint study with the University of Bonn it became clear: By means of the magnetic method it is possible to dramatically increase the efficiency of the gene transfer in comparison to the non-magnetic method.