Clot-Busting with Magnetic Nanoparticles
When the USFDA first approved recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (aka, “clot buster”) in 1996, it came as wonderful news for treating clots that cause strokes, heart attacks and pulmonary embolisms. But many emergency room physicians were reluctant to use tPA because it risked hemorrhages. For that reason, recent work at Houston Methodist Hospital’s DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center suggest tPA finally may be headed to reaching its potential. Researchers there have constructed magnetic nanoparticles, which consist of an iron oxide core, with an albumin coating containing tPA. Magnetic fields excite the iron particles and cause a temperature rise (to 108 degrees F) in the tPA which allows a smaller but more effective dose, breaking up blood clots much faster. MORE
Image Credit: Paolo Decuzzi laboratory and ScienceDaily.com