US researchers say that “Nanoburrs” are nanoparticles coated with a sticky kind of protein that makes them cling onto artery walls when they release drugs slowly. The researchers developing them are hoping that they will soon provide an alternative to drug-releasing stents in fighting heart disease.

The researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard Medical School, wrote about how they developed and tested the nanoburrs as potential drug-releasing agents for targeting and repairing damaged blood vessels.

This paper was published online on 19 January in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The nanoburrs releases their drug load over several days which could be used to deliver drugs to treat atherosclerosis and other inflammatory cardiovascular diseases, as per the researchers in a press release.

They say that one day the nanoburrs could be used with vascular stents and few cases may even see a replacement of stents in locations that are not well suited for. It is the standard of care for maximum cases of clogged and damaged arteries like a fork in the artery.

Associate professor at Harvard Medical School and co-author, Omid Farokhzad, says that nanoparticles are one of the first designed to home in precisely on damaged vascular tissue