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Scientists at the Saarland University and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) unraveled lung mucus’s physical properties: They discovered that a rigid gel scaffold in lung mucus separates large, fluid-filled pores and prevents nanoparticle movement beyond individual pore boundaries. Their findings deepen our understanding of diseases of the respiratory system, notably infections, and support the development of new inhaled medications.
“Our results are helping us to better understand the etiology of infectious diseases of the airways and how to treat them more effectively. In particular, they represent an important basis for the continued development of new inhaled medications,“ explains Professor Lehr. The newly gained insights show that it is important to consider how drugs overcome the mucus gel scaffold. Mucolytic techniques can be used where, essentially, the rods are melted such that they dissolve before the nanoparticle and, once the particle has passed, they fuse again.
Julian Kirch, Andreas Schneider, Berengere Abou, Alexander Hopf, Ulrich F. Schäfer, Marc Schneider, Christian Schall, Christian Wagner und Claus Michael Lehr: Optical tweezers reveal relationship between microstructure and nanoparticle penetration of pulmonary mucus, In: PNAS Early Edition, October 22, 2012, DOI:10.1073/ pnas.1214066109:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1214066109
Image: Left: Lung mucus: Rigid, thick gel rods separating pores filled with liquid phase. Nanoparticles – for example drug nanoparticles – become stuck at these structures as though they were bars of a cage. © Schneider/Kirch et al.
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Freiburg, working jointly with Hegla, have engineered a new process to cut safety glass. “We cut the interior film before the glass is scored and broken apart,” explains Tobias Rist, scientist at Fraunhofer IWM. “We use a laser beam that can be guided over the pane as desired. This is why we are also able to cut unusual geometries.” The laser beam penetrates the glass and re- leases its energy primarily in the film. The film gets hot enough for it to melt and vaporize. With this method a channel is produced in the film, and the film is separated locally. When the film is “cut,” the glass is carved and fractured parallel to the resulting film channel. “The process can be readily automated and applied on an industrial scale,” says Rist. Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Material IWM: