Tag Archives: NanoSight

Czech veterinary research institute tracks nanoparticles

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When I first saw the Jan. 7, 2014 news item on Azonano, I was expecting to see some cute animal images mixed with the ‘nano’ talk. While there’s no mild amusement to be had, there is plenty of ‘nano’ talk concerning the work being done at the Veterinary Research Institute (Brno,  Czech republic) on characterizing nanoparticles using some new equipment (Note: Links have been removed),

Malvern [which owns the company, NanoSight] reports on how NanoSight’s Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis, NTA, is being applied in the Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic in the research group of Dr. Jaroslav Turanek in the Department of Pharmacology and Immunotherapy).

The central theme of Dr. Jaroslav Turanek’s research group (Department of Pharmacology and Immunotherapy) at the Veterinary Research Institute in Brno is to apply synthetic and bioorganic chemistry. This work is performed in collaboration with King’s College London and the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Prague, for the design and construction of therapeutic nanoparticles to develop drug delivery systems (anticancer and antiviral drugs) and nanocarriers for construction of recombinant vaccines.

In parallel, the research group of Dr. Miroslav Machala (Department of Chemistry and Toxicology) at Veterinary Research Institute focuses upon environmental nanoparticulate pollutants. Characterization of airborne particles is conducted using electron microscopy, but in vitro tests on cell culture require knowledge of the real structure of nanoparticles in the tissue culture medium (e.g. aggregation). This enables the group to draw the correct conclusions from in vitro toxicological experiments which can be affected by differences in local nanoparticle concentration owing to sedimentation. Detailed particle distribution and kinetics of aggregation in this heterogeneous system is impossible to obtain using electron microscopy and hence Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis, NTA, is the method of choice. It is noted that some metastable aggregates can disaggregate due to high dilution of the sample required for NTA analysis. For this reason, Dynamic Light Scattering, DLS, and NTA are used as suitable complementary methods in the laboratory.

The Jan. 7, 2014 Malvern Instruments press release on biospace.com, which originated the news item, provides a quote from Dr. Jaroslav Turanek’ describing the NTA system,

Explaining their choice of NanoSight, Dr Turanek said “We chose NTA as a convenient and rapid method for characterization of nanoparticles in heterogeneous preparations like liposomes and their complexes with proteins, DNA and polysaccharides. A set of these techniques is used for the complex characterization of the structure of the nanoparticles, the kinetics of their preparation, the dynamics of morphological transformation and, finally, their stability. NTA perfectly fits our needs and has become a standard method in our methodological portfolio. The most advantageous feature of NTA is that it makes it possible to visualize each nanoparticle and then to obtain more detailed size distributions based on individual particle measurements. DLS is used as precise complementary method for the characterization of nanoparticles below 20 nm for proteins and other biopolymers. Combination of these two methods, NTA and DLS, with separation methods (GPC, FFF) and electron microscopy is preferred to get the full insight to structure and dynamics of nanoparticles in our sample systems.”

It took me quite a while to realize that nanoparticles in a sample are not necessarily homogenous, i.e., similar in size, etc. Unconsciously, I had applied my notions of manufacturing where items are made (stamped, poured into moulds, etc.)  to be identical. As far as I’m aware there is no such production process for nanoparticles which makes characterizing them an important task if the purpose is to better understand their properties.

You can find out more about Malvern Instruments here and about NanoSight here.

Webinar featuring REACH and JRC perspectives on the European Union’s definition of nanomaterials

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NanoSight is once more hosting a webinar on the European Union’s definition of nanomaterials (the first nanomaterials definitiion webinar was mentioned in my March 6, 2012 posting).  Here’s more about their latest nanomaterials definition webinar,  from NanoSight’s webinar registration page,

Update on the EU Nanomaterials Definition: Impact of Recent EU and JRC [European Commission’s Joint Research Centre] Publications

Wednesday, 14th November 2012
Live at 15:00 GMT (16:00 CET, 07:00 PST, 10:00 EST)
Repeated Live at 17:00 GMT (18:00 CET, 09:00 PST, 12:00 EST)

…

Dr Denis Koltsov is an international nanotechnology legislation and control expert. He is Director and Principal Consultant at BREC Solutions offering technology consulting services. He also holds a lectureship in the Department of Engineering at Lancaster University.
Dr Matteo Della Valle is from the REACH Centre, an organization that provides the highest quality advice on the many regulatory, technical and commercial aspects of REACh and other chemical regulations.

…

During the 30 minute interactive presentations, the speakers will

  • Review the JRC methods document and dicuss the key conclusions and the challenges presented
  • Outline the EU’s Second Regulatory Review and forthcoming legislation where it will have most impact with particular emphasis on the REACh [European Community’s (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of CHemicals] registration process
  • Report on the USA perspective concerning regulation of nanomaterials. This reporting will include matters tabled as SENN2012 – International Congress on Safety of Engineered Nanoparticles and Nanotechnologies, at the end of this month in Helsinki

As part of this fully interactive presentation you will be able to put your question to both myself and Denis, so please take advantage of this opportunity to clarify any queries you may have.

H/T to Azonano’s Nov. 2, 2012 news item.

Webinar on 2011 European nanomaterials definition

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Weds., March 21, 2012  at 1330 GMT (6:30 am PST), Dr Denis Koltsov will lead part one of a webinar on the European nanomaterials definition, which will be hosted by the company, NanoSight. According to the March 6, 2012 news item on Nanowerk,

NanoSight will host a webinar to look at the implications of this definition and how as a company with unique multi-parameter nanoparticle analysis is able to address these freshly defined characterization challenges. [sic]

The invited speaker is Dr Denis Koltsov, a leading international expert in nanotechnology legislation and control. Dr Koltsov serves on several UK governmental strategy committees as well as expert committees at BSI/ISO/CEN/OECD WPN and the Nanotechnologies Industries Association (NIA). He has conducted a number of industry-led consultations in the nanotechnology sector and reported to the relevant regulatory authorities. He operates BREC Solutions, a consultancy company in the field of nanotechnology innovation. Key to this is to act as an information source of nanotechnology regulation and standardisation. In his talk, he will examine the definition in detail and provide a thorough understanding of the document. Dr Koltsov will outline his views on the likely speed and scope of legislation.

Part two of the webinar at 1500 GMT (8 am PST) will feature (from the NanoSight webinar registration page),

NanoSight will present a practical draft solution to address a characterisation requirement of this definition, requiring as it does particle counting 10 to 100nm a combination of NTA and EM is proposed.

Here’s a little more about UK-based NanoSight (from the home page),

NanoSight visualizes, measures and characterizes virtually all nanoparticles. Particle size, concentration, aggregation and zeta potential can all be analyzed while a fluorescence mode provides speciation of labeled particles. NanoSight provides real time monitoring of the subtle changes in the characteristics of particle populations with all of these analyses uniquely confirmed by visual validation.

I also found some additional information about Denis Koltsov (from Koltsov’s webpage on  BREC Solutions website),

Born in Moscow (1976), Denis grew up in Paris. He speaks 3 languages. Denis graduated from Cambridge University in 1998 (BA and MSci in Physics) and followed up his research interests in Nanotechnology to graduate from Cambridge in 2002 with a PhD in Engineering. His constant interest for real-world problems brought him to Lancaster University where he worked up to 2009 as Lecturer in Nanotechnology. His consulting career started in 2005. In November 2007 Denis and his colleagues registered their own consulting company (BREC Solutions Limited). He is the Director and a Principal Consultant in BREC Solutions Limited.

I have some additional information about the European definition for nanomaterials in these postings, Nanomaterials definition for Europe, European nanomaterials definition not good enough, and  The French and others weigh in on the European nanomaterials definition (included here).