Researchers at the University of North Carolina have suggested that manufacturing therapeutic nanoparticles so that they have similar shapes to bacteria could aid their uptake into cells and therefore make them more effective at treating diseases.

The team, led by Professor Joseph DeSimone found that longer, rod-shaped nanoparticles resembling some pathogenic bacteria were able to enter cells at four times the rate of shorter, more cylindrically-shaped particles of a similar volume. The finding follows earlier work at the same lab where Professor DeSimone's team succeeded in developing a method to manufacture large numbers of nanoparticles in various shapes and sizes in contrast to the spherical particles so far used in most applications. The team is now carrying out further studies with different sizes and shaps of particles, and different doses of drugs to determine the least toxic and most effective combinations.

In another line of research Professor DeSimone has developed microparticles that mimic red blood cells in size, shape and flexibility and other long, wormlike particles that are less liable to being ingested by macrophages.

Full story at MIT Technology Review.