Nanoparticle Design and Assembly for p-type Metal Oxide Gas Sensors

Metal oxide semiconductors have wide band gaps with tailorable electrical properties and high stability, suitable for chemiresistive gas sensors. p-Type oxide semiconductors generally have less sensitivity than n-type counterparts but...

The Interactions between Nanoparticles and the Innate Immune System from a Nanotechnologist Perspective

The immune system contributes to maintaining the body’s functional integrity through its two main functions: recognizing and destroying foreign external agents (invading microorganisms) and identifying and eliminating senescent cells and damaged or abnormal endogenous entities (such as cellular debris or misfolded/degraded proteins). Accordingly, the immune system can detect molecular and cellular structures with a spatial resolution of a few nm, which allows for detecting molecular patterns expressed in a great variety of pathogens, including viral and bacterial proteins and bacterial nucleic acid sequences. Such patterns are also expressed in abnormal cells. In this context, it is expected that nanostructured materials in the size range of proteins, protein aggregates, and viruses with different molecular coatings can engage in a sophisticated interaction with the immune system. Nanoparticles can be recognized or passed undetected by the immune system. Once detected, they can be tolerated or induce defensive (inflammatory) or anti-inflammatory responses. This paper describes the different modes of interaction between nanoparticles, especially inorganic nanoparticles, and the immune system, especially the innate immune system. This perspective should help to propose a set of selection rules for nanosafety-by-design and medical nanoparticle design.

Nanoparticles as Drug Delivery Systems

This chapter presents a review on the design of nanoparticles which have been proposed as drug delivery systems in biomedicine. It will begin with a brief historical review of nanotechnology including the most common types of nanoparticles (metal nanoparticles, liposomes, nanocrystals and polymeric nanoparticles) and their advantages as drug delivery systems. These advantages include the mechanism of increased penetration and retention, the transport of insoluble drugs and the controlled release. Next, the nanoparticle design principles and the routes of administration of nanoparticles (parental, oral, pulmonary and transdermal) are discussed. Different routes of elimination of nanoparticles (renal and hepatic) are also analyzed.

Using Parallel Coordinates in Optimization of Nano-Particle Drug Delivery

Nanoparticle drug delivery better targets neoplastic lesions than free drugs and thus has emerged as safer form of cancer therapy. Nanoparticle design variables are important determinants of efficacy as they influence the drug biodistribution and pharmacokinetics. Previously, we determined optimal designs through mechanistic modeling and optimization. However, the numerical nature of the tumor model and numerous candidate nanoparticle designs hinder hypothesis generation and treatment personalization. In this paper, we utilize the parallel coordinates technique to visualize high-dimensional optimal solutions and extract correlations between nanoparticle design and treatment outcomes. We found that at optimality, two major design variables are dependent, and thus the optimization problem can be reduced. In addition, we obtained an analytical relationship between optimal nanoparticle sizes and optimal distribution, which could facilitate the utilization of tumors models in preclincal studies. Our approach has simplified the results of the previously integrated modeling and optimization framework developed for nanotherapy and enhanced the interpretation and utilization of findings. Integrated mathematical frameworks are increasing in the medical field, and our method can be applied outside nanotherapy to facilitate clinical translation of computational methods.

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF NANOPARTICLES WITH NEURO PROTECTIVE CHEMICALS OF NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC ORIGIN.

Most of the active phytoconstituents under development are poorly water soluble or have poor bioavailability . Nanotechnology is an approach to overcome the challenges of conventional drug delivery systems and limitations of phytochemicals. Solid Lipid nanoparticles show interesting features concerning therapeutic purposes. The main advantage is that they are prepared with physiologically well-tolerated lipids.Solid Lipid Nanoparticles (SLNs) as novel lipid based nanocarriers with size range between 10 to 1000nm. SLNs were introduced to overcome problems of polymeric nanoparticles.In present research formulation and evaluation of nanoparticles with ethanolic extract of two plants Celastrus paniculatus and Bacopa monnieri along with Donepezil as a standard drug was undertaken here for the production methods for preparation of SLNs, and pharmaceutical approach of SLNs in drug delivery . The focus of nanoparticle design over the years has evolved toward more complex nanoscopic core–shell architecture using a single delivery system to combine multiple functionalities within nanoparticles which combine the mechanical advantages of biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles and biomimetic advantages of liposomes, have emerged as a robust and promising delivery platform. Solid liquid nanoparticles having plant extracts were successfully formulated and characterized for their stability.A biodegradable polymeric core is surrounded by a shell composed of layer(s) of phospholipids. This architecture can provide advantages such as controllable particle size, surface functionality, high drug loading, entrapment of multiple therapeutic agents, drug release profile,and good serum stability of phytochemicals

Overcoming physiological barriers by nanoparticles for intravenous drug delivery to the lymph nodes

The lymph nodes are major sites of cancer metastasis and immune activity, and thus represent important clinical targets. Although not as well-studied compared to subcutaneous administration, intravenous drug delivery is advantageous for lymph node delivery as it is commonly practiced in the clinic and has the potential to deliver therapeutics systemically to all lymph nodes. However, rapid clearance by the mononuclear phagocyte system, tight junctions of the blood vascular endothelium, and the collagenous matrix of the interstitium can limit the efficiency of lymph node drug delivery, which has prompted research into the design of nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems. In this mini review, we describe the physiological and biological barriers to lymph node targeting, how they inform nanoparticle design, and discuss the future outlook of lymph node targeting.

Passive cancer targeting with a viral nanoparticle depends on the stage of tumorigenesis

Tumor targeting with nanoparticles is a promising strategy for cancer diagnosis and treatment, especially drug delivery to solid tumors. Previous studies mainly focused on nanoparticle design to improve their targeting...