にきびを狙うナノ爆弾
News Release from University of California San Diego Jacob School of Engineering on April 14, 2010.
© University of California San Diego Jacob School of Engineering
研究室のDissaya “Nu” Pornpattananangkul
にきびの治療に，いわゆる「ナノ爆弾」が役に立ちそうだ。ココナッツオイルの成分であるラウリン酸を極めて微小な粒子に搭載して皮膚に塗る薬にし，にきびの原因となる細菌を死滅させるというのだ。開発中のこの方法では，脂質でできた粒子（リポソーム）に，にきびの原因菌に作用するラウリン酸を満たし，この粒子の表面に金のナノ粒子を付着させる。ナノ粒子は原因菌を見つける役割を果たし，これに到達するとリポソームを解き放つ。その結果，ラウリン酸が原因菌に作用するしくみだ。細菌に狙いを定めるため，副作用も少なくて済むようだ。（吉田素子）
A natural product found in both coconut oil(1) and human breast milk(2) -- lauric acid(3) -- shines as(4) a possible new acne(5) treatment thanks to(6) a bioengineering(7) graduate student(8) from the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. The student developed a “smart delivery system(9)” -- published in the journal ACS Nano(10) in March -- capable of delivering lauric-acid-filled(11) nano-scale(12) bombs directly to skin-dwelling(13) bacteria(14) (Propionibacterium acnes(15)) that cause common acne(16).
On Thursday April 15, bioengineering graduate student Dissaya “Nu” Pornpattananangkul will present her most recent work on this experimental(17) acne-drug-delivery system at Research Expo(18), the annual research conference of the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. Watch the video (2 or 3.5 minute version) on the Jacobs School blog(19).
Common acne, also known as “acne vulgaris(20),” afflicts(21) more than 85 percent of teenagers and over 40 million people in the United States; and current treatments have undesirable(22) side effects(23) including redness(24) and burning(25). Lauric-acid-based(26) treatments could avoid these side effects, the UC San Diego researchers(27) say.
“It’s a good feeling to know that I have a chance to develop a drug that could help people with acne,” said Pornpattananangkul, who performs this research in the Nanomaterials(28) and Nanomedicine(29) Laboratory(30) of UC San Diego NanoEngineering(31) professor Liangfang Zhang from the Jacobs School of Engineering.
The new smart delivery system includes gold nanoparticles(32) attached to surfaces of lauric-acid-filled nano-bombs(33). The gold nanoparticles keep the nano-bombs (liposomes(34)) from fusing together(35). The gold nanoparticles also help the liposomes locate acne-causing(36) bacteria based on the skin microenvironment(37), including pH(38).
(1) ココナッツオイル (2) 母乳 (3) ラウリン酸 (4) ～として異彩を放つ (5) にきび（ざ瘡）
(6) ～のおかげで (7) 生体工学 (8) 大学院生 (9) スマート（高度な技術を使った）デリバリー（送達）システム
(10) ナノ（十億分の1を示す単位，ACS Nanoは雑誌名） (11) ～で満たされた (12) ～の規模の
(13) 皮膚に存在する (14) 細菌 (15) アクネ菌の学名 (16) 尋常性ざ瘡 (17) 実験的な (18) 博覧会
(19) ブログ (20) 尋常性ざ瘡 (21) 悩ます (22) 望ましくない (23) 副作用 (24) 発赤 (25) 灼熱感
(26) ～に基づいた (27) 研究者 (28) ナノ材料 (29) ナノ医療 (30) 研究室 (31) ナノ工学 (32) ナノ粒子
(33) ナノ爆弾 (34) リポソーム (35) 融合すること (36) ～を引き起こす (37) 微小環境 (38) ペーハー
