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Thursday, 27th July 2006 (5976 views)

Scientists have found a method of keeping isolated cells alive for longer by encasing them in networks of silica, United Press International (UPI) reports.

The cells could be used in chemical sensors and gold particles could be used as readout mechanisms to help with the treatment of diseases.

Jeff Brinker of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque created scaffolds around live cells by dissolving them in a solution with phospholipids, which led to a shell forming around them.

Around this, further ultra-thin layers of silica and lipids were produced that could help keep the cells alive in a so-called "nurturing space". The new layer helped the cells stay alive for longer than cells encased in regular silica.

The scientists also found the scaffolds to be permeable by small molecules, which means they could be used as cell-based sensors.

They also added gold and cadmium selenide nanocrystals to the scaffold, which formed fluorescent "quantum dots" that could be used as readout mechanisms "to study the onset of disease or the status of therapies or the response to drugs," said Brinker.

Gold has many applications in nanotechnology, with scientists also recently using the precious metal to develop nanowires, which could have many different applications.

 

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