NaturalNano, Inc. (OTCBB:NNAN)
(Frankfurt:N3N), a materials science company focused on developing and commercializing
advanced nanocomposites, announces acting CEO and President James Wemett announced
today that a series of feasibility studies have been initiated under the direction
of Professor Michael King, Ph.D. of the Department of Biomedical Engineering
at Cornell University in Ithaca New York and in co-operation with CellTraffix
Inc. Dr King will be assessing whether NaturalNano's proprietary Halloysite
nanotubes enhance the adhesion of circulating cells to reactive surfaces, and
thus hold promise for improving technologies of CellTraffix Inc. for the isolation
of rare cell populations from blood or other samples, particularly adult stem
cells and cancer cells in the blood.
Dr. King is a pioneer in the use of microtubes coated with "selectin"
protein to which the targeted cells adhere. Improvement of the adhesion of targeted
cells in the blood and bone marrow would significantly advance prospects of
commercializing devices for research uses as well as diagnostic and therapeutic
applications of this groundbreaking technology which would represent a significant
advance over current cell collection methods.
"Our results obtained so far indicate that monolayer coatings of these
interesting halloysite nanotubes result in significantly altered protein deposition
and surface interactions with cells. We are now initiating tests of these coatings
with clinical cell samples," says King.
Mr. Wemett said, "We are pleased with the results and excited to be working
with such a prestigious University and the professional lab of Dr. King."
"This work on Halloysite nanotubes to be carried out by Dr. King is an
opportunity to significantly advance our progress in developing a device that
can be used commercially to isolate stem or certain cancer cells," said
Thomas Fitzgerald, CEO of CellTraffix, which is commercializing the research
done by Dr. King and his team.