Nano-Reporters and Nano-Bullets: How Nanotechnology Advances Enable to Probe and Target Human Cellular Structures?

CIC nanoGUNE Seminars

Speaker

Yuri Volkov, Institute for Molecular Medicine and CRANN, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

When

2010/10/11
13:00

Place

nanoGUNE seminar room, Tolosa Hiribidea 76, Donostia - San Sebastian

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Nanomedicine as a rapidly expanding area of science provides a unique chance to exploit the diverse properties of engineered nanomaterials for the ultimate benefit of the patients. Light-emitting nanoparticles, including fluorescently doped silica, polystyrene nanoparticles and quantum dots have an outstanding potential for diagnostic applications and intracellular imaging in biomedical research. On the other hand, optimistic expectations are associated with the opportunities of using the nanoparticles as a new class of drug delivery systems, arising from the fact that the finite, but tunable size of the engineered nanostructures used as drug delivery vehicles can impose very precise nano-scale drug distribution barriers at the level of cells, tissues and entire organism, thereby eliminating undesirable side effects pertinent to most contemporary medicines. However, there is still very little definitive systematic information about the consequences of interactions of nano-scale objects with human cells of diverse origin and therefore safety-related issues are high on the nanomedical agenda. Phagocytes, epithelium of the lungs and gastrointestinal tract as well as cells of the cardiovascular system are the primary candidates to encounter these nanomaterials. We will provide here an overview of several nanoparticle application scenarios for intracellular delivery and imaging in different cell types, along with the contemporary approaches to safety screening of nanomaterials with promising biomedical application potential. Supported by the Health Research Board of Ireland, Science Foundation of Ireland SRC “BioNanoInteract”, EU FP-6 STREP “NanoInteract” and EU FP-7 LSP “Namdiatream”