Experimental Methods for the Biological Evaluation of Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery Risks

Abstract

Many novel medical therapies use nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems, including nanomaterials through drug delivery systems, diagnostics, or physiologically active medicinal products. The approval of nanoparticles with advanced therapeutic and diagnostic potentials for applications in medication and immunization depends strongly on their synthesizing procedure, efficiency of functionalization, and biological safety and biocompatibility. Nanoparticle biodistribution, absorption, bioavailability, passage across biological barriers, and biodistribution are frequently assessed using bespoke and biological models. These methods largely rely on in vitro cell-based evaluations that cannot predict the complexity involved in preclinical and clinical studies. Therefore, assessing the nanoparticle risk has to involve pharmacokinetics, organ toxicity, and drug interactions manifested at multiple cellular levels. At the same time, there is a need for novel approaches to examine nanoparticle safety risks due to increased constraints on animal exploitation and the demand for high-throughput testing. We focus here on biological evaluation methodologies that provide access to nanoparticle interactions with the organism (positive or negative via toxicity). This work aimed to provide a perception regarding the risks associated with the utilization of nanoparticle-based formulations with a particular focus on assays applied to assess the cytotoxicity of nanomaterials.

Harmonization Risks and Rewards: Nano-QSAR for Agricultural Nanomaterials

“…53 Recent years have witnessed an increasing application of QSAR in the field of nanotoxicology and nano safety assessment to predict the toxicity and environmental impact of nanomaterials. 54 QSAR models can be used to predict the toxicity of a wide range of nanomaterials based on their physicochemical properties, such as size, surface area, surface charge, and surface chemistry. One of the advantages of QSAR models for nanotoxicology is that they can reduce the need for time-consuming and expensive in vitro and in vivo toxicity testing.…”

Cell viability and cytotoxicity assays: Biochemical elements and cellular compartments

“…Cell viability and cytotoxicity assays are fundamental tools used in biomedical research to measure the cytotoxic effect of various substances in living cells. These tests are used mainly in drug screening, 1 for testing the cytotoxic effect of certain chemical agents, 2,3 and they are also used to test the biocompatibility of medical devices before their utilization in clinical stages 4,5 . Furthermore, these techniques have gained growing popularity over the years and have now become widely employed in the field of oncology research for the assessment of both toxicity and the suppression of tumor cell growth, especially in the context of drug development 6 .…”