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Materials science

To bind or not to bind

Nature volume 502, pages 313–314 (2013)Cite this article

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Finding a way to control how particles bind to cells could open up opportunities for biomedical research. The discovery of a method for directing the orientation of particle–cell interactions is therefore a cause for excitement.

The interactions of small particles with cells are crucial in biology, such as when immune-system cells remove dirt and bacteria to stop an infection. Such interactions have many potential applications in promising medical therapies, and have fuelled the growing field of nanomedicine. Writing in Advanced Materials, Gilbert et al.1 report a significant contribution to this field: the preparation of tube-shaped particles that attach to cells in different ways depending on the tubes' surface properties. This could lead to new ways to deliver drugs into target cells and to create constructs from cells.

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Figure 1: Surface properties control interactions of polymer tubes with cells.

References

  1. Gilbert, J. B., O'Brien, J. S., Suresh, H. S., Cohen, R. E. & Rubner, M. F. Adv. Mater. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.201302673 (2013).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Andrea J. O'Connor and Frank Caruso are in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.,

    Andrea J. O'Connor & Frank Caruso

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  1. Andrea J. O'Connor
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  2. Frank Caruso
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Correspondence to Frank Caruso.

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O'Connor, A., Caruso, F. To bind or not to bind. Nature 502, 313–314 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/502313a

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