A new biological function for a soccer ball-shaped nano-particle called buckyball has been identified.

A research team has found that buckyball has the ability to block allergic reaction, making the progress of new therapies for allergy possible.

Allergic disease is the sixth leading cause of chronic disease in the United States, and though various treatments have been developed to control allergy, no cure has been found. These findings advance the up-and-coming field of medicine known as nanoimmunology.

The researchers, from Virginia Commonwealth University and Luna Innovations Inc., a private, Roanoke, Va., research company, are the first to demonstrate that buckyballs are able to block allergic response in human cell culture experiments.

Buckyballs, or fullerenes, are nanoparticles containing 60 carbon atoms. Owing to their exclusive structure, unresponsiveness and steadiness, researchers from a number of scientific fields have been investigating the tiny, hollow carbon cages to serve a variety of functions.

In this study, researchers modified the buckyballs so that they were attuned to water.

"This discovery is exciting because it points to the possibility that these novel materials can one day lead to new therapies," said Chris Kepley, Ph.D., M.B.A., assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology at the VCU School of Medicine.

"Researchers in many fields are aware of the potential fullerenes have, however, we are the first to show they can turn off the allergic response and basic immune reactions," he said.

According to Kepley, who is the main author of the paper, the buckyballs are able to 'interrupt' the allergy/immune response by holding back a crucial process in the cell that leads to the discharge of an allergic mediator. Fundamentally, the buckyballs are able to prevent mast cells from r
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