Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies: Approaching the Crest of this Big Wave

Uskoković, Vuk

doi:10.2174/157341308784340903

Cited by 33 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…45 Minor changes in nanoparticle size, 46 shape, 47 or surface charge 48 can cause dramatic differences in the biological response, the reason for which nanoparticles require markedly more detailed and versatile safety tests compared to their microparticulate counterparts of the same composition. 49 Because of this erratic behavior of nanoparticles in living systems, thorough analyses of safety effects must precede the analyses of the pharmacotherapeutic efficacy.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population Effects of Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles in Drosophila melanogaster: The Effects of Phase Composition, Crystallinity, and the Pathway of Formation

Uskoković

2017

ACS Biomater. Sci. Eng.

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Unpredictable biological response due to the finest nanostructural variations is one of the hallmarks of nanoparticles. Because of this erratic behavior of nanoparticles in living systems, thorough analyses of biosafety must precede the analyses of the pharmacotherapeutic efficacy and simple animal models are ideal for such purposes. Drosophila melanogaster, the common fruit fly, is an animal model capable of giving a fast, high-throughput response as to the safety and efficacy of drug delivery carriers and other pharmacological agents, while minimizing the suffering imposed onto animals in more complex in vivo models. Here we studied the effects on the viability and fertility of D. melanogaster due to variations in phase composition, crystallinity, and the pathway of formation of four different calcium phosphate (CP) nanopowders consumed orally. To minimize the effect of other nanostructural variables, CP nanopowders were made to possess highly similar particle sizes and morphologies. The composition of CP affected the fecundity of flies, but so did crystallinity and the pathway of formation. Both the total number of eclosed viable flies and pupae in populations challenged with hydroxyapatite (HAP) greatly exceeded those in control populations. Viability was adversely affected by the only pyrophosphate tested (CPP) and by the metastable and the most active of all CP nanopowders analyzed: the amorphous CP (ACP). The pupation peak was delayed and the viable fly to-pupa ratio increased in all the CP-challenged populations. F1 CPP population, whose viability was most adversely affected by the CP consumption, when crossed, produced the largest number of F2 progeny under regular conditions, possibly pointing to stress as a positive evolutionary drive. The positive effect of HAP on fertility of fruit flies may be due to its slow absorption and the activation of calmodulin during the transit of oocytes through the reproductive tract of fertilized females. Exerted in the prepupation stage, the effect of CP is thus traceable beyond the instar larval stage and to the oogenesis stage of the Drosophila lifecycle.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population Effects of Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles in Drosophila melanogaster: The Effects of Phase Composition, Crystallinity, and the Pathway of Formation

Uskoković

2017

ACS Biomater. Sci. Eng.

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“…Probing static nanostructures at the fine scale is already an enormous challenge [158] and understanding the dynamic evolution of bio-nano-morphologies at an ultrafine scale and with respect to the short-range and highly directional weak forces stands forth as an even greater one. [2,159–161] …”

Section: Prospect Of Combinatorial Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic Light Scattering Based Microelectrophoresis: Main Prospects and Limitations

Uskoković¹

2012

Journal of Dispersion Science and Technology

125

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Microelectrophoresis based on the dynamic light scattering (DLS) effect has been a major tool for assessing and controlling the conditions for stability of colloidal systems. However, both the DLS methods for characterization of the hydrodynamic size of dispersed submicron particles and the theory behind the electrokinetic phenomena are associated with fundamental and practical approximations that limit their sensitivity and information output. Some of these fundamental limitations, including the spherical approximation of DLS measurements and an inability of microelectrophoretic analyses of colloidal systems to detect discrete charges and differ between differently charged particle surfaces due to rotational diffusion and particle orientation averaging, are revisited in this work. Along with that, the main prospects of these two analytical methods are mentioned. A detailed review of the role of zeta potential in processes of biochemical nature is given too. It is argued that although zeta potential has been used as one of the main parameters in controlling the stability of colloidal dispersions, its application potentials are much broader. Manipulating surface charges of interacting species in designing complex soft matter morphologies using the concept of zeta potential, intensively investigated recently, is given as one of the examples. Branching out from the field of colloid chemistry, DLS and zeta potential analyses are now increasingly finding application in drug delivery, biotechnologies, physical chemistry of nanoscale phenomena and other research fields that stand on the frontier of the contemporary science. Coupling the DLS-based microelectrophoretic systems with complementary characterization methods is mentioned as one of the prosperous paths for increasing the information output of these two analytical techniques.

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“…1 As shown in Figure 1, critical boundaries incorporated within the products of human creativity have thus been created at an ever finer scale. As the result, we have witnessed miniaturization of devices in our everyday surrounding.…”

Section: Introduction: How Nanoscience Sprang Into Lifementioning

confidence: 99%

Entering the Era of Nanoscience: Time to Be So Small Vuk Uskokovíc

Uskoković¹

2013

Journal of Biomedical Nanotechnology

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The field of nanoscience has produced more hype than probably any other branch of materials science and engineering in its history. Still, the potentials of this new field largely lay undiscovered ahead of us; what we have learnt so far with respect to the peculiarity of physical processes on the nanoscale is only the tip of an iceberg. Elaborated in this critical review is the idea that the surge of interest in physical chemistry of phenomena at the nanoscale presents a natural consequence of the spatial refinement of the human ability to controllably manipulate the substratum of our physical reality. Examples are given to illustrate the sensitivity of material properties to grain size on the nanoscale, a phenomenon that directly contributed to the rise of nanoscience as a special field of scientific inquiry. Main systemic challenges faced by the present and future scientists in this field are also mentioned. In part, this perspective article resembles standing on the constantly expanding seashore of the coast of nanoscience and nanoengineering and envisioning the parts of the island where the most significant advances may be expected to occur and where, therefore, most of the attention of scientist in this field is to be directed: (a) crossing the gap between life science and materials science; (b) increasing experimentation sensitivity; (c) crisscrossing theory and experiments; and (d) conjoining top-down and bottom-up synthetic approaches. As for materials and the application areas discussed, a special emphasis is placed on calcium phosphate nanoparticles and their usage in controlled drug delivery devices and other applications of biomedical relevance. It is argued that the properties of nanoparticles as drug carriers often comprise the critical determinant for the efficacy of the drug therapy. Therefore, the basic properties of nanoparticles to be optimized for the purpose of maximizing this efficacy are discussed: size, size distribution, morphology, polymorphic nature, crystallinity, biocompatibility, biodegradability, drug elution profiles, and aggregation propensity.

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Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies: Approaching the Crest of this Big Wave

Cited by 33 publications

References 48 publications

Population Effects of Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles in Drosophila melanogaster: The Effects of Phase Composition, Crystallinity, and the Pathway of Formation

Population Effects of Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles in Drosophila melanogaster: The Effects of Phase Composition, Crystallinity, and the Pathway of Formation

Dynamic Light Scattering Based Microelectrophoresis: Main Prospects and Limitations

Entering the Era of Nanoscience: Time to Be So Small Vuk Uskokovíc

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