It all sounds very sci-fi, but University of Buffalo researchers believe they've discovered a way to combine nanotechnology and new siRNA medications to shut down a gene responsible for drug cravings. They also say the implications of their breakthrough could extend far beyond addiction treatment.

Using Nanoparticles to Access the Brain

What the UB researchers have managed to do is create a stable delivery platform for the very unstable and delicate siRNA molecules, so that these new-generation medications are released intact within brain cells. Researchers have known of the potential of these siRNA medications for awhile, but have not previously been able to safely and effectively deliver the drugs across the blood-brain barrier and into the brain.

Yet by grafting siRNA onto gold rod-shaped nanoparticles, the researchers were able to stabilize the siRNA, send the medication across the blood brain barrier, and effectively turn off the problem gene. Their 40 percent success rate in bypassing the blood-brain barrier represents a significant improvement over previous model trials.

Study co-author, Adela C. Boniou, PhD, hypothesized, "When you silence this gene, the physical craving for the drug should be reduced." In-vivo trials are scheduled to test in reality what sounds so promising in theory.

Paras N. Prasad, executive director of the UB Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics, summed up the success by saying, "These findings mean that in the future, we might be able to add a powerful pharmaceutical agent to the current arsenal of weapons in order to more effectively fight a whole range of substance addictions."

The research was partially funded by the National Cancer Institute, and study co-authors from the UB Department of Medicine say they will begin exploring the functional uses of this nanotechnology on AIDS, prostate cancer, dementia, and asthma.

The full journal article can be read in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.