Transporting gold across physical boundaries

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Nanoparticles covered in brushes: controlled by temperature and salt content the polymer chains enable the gold particles to move back and forth between an aqueous solution and an oil. Image: MPI of Colloids and Interfaces
Nanoparticles covered in brushes: controlled by temperature and salt content, the polymer chains enable the gold particles to move back and forth between an aqueous solution and an oil. Image: MPI of Colloids and Interfaces

Achieving the desired effect is often only a question of the right place and the right moment - and this also applies to drugs. In order to be transported in the bloodstream, they need to be water-soluble. However, in order to get past cell membranes, they have to be fat-soluble. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces have now developed a method with which they can channel nanoparticles originating from gold atoms from a water solution into an oil. The water and oil system serves as a model for the boundary between the bloodstream and tissue.


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