lecture 3

Question 1

list 3 things we classify as nanoparticles or nanosystems

Answer 1

nanodevices
nanosensors
nanomachines

Question 2

applications of nanoparticles in medicine

Answer 2

prevention of diseases: vaccine delivery vehicles

diagnosis of diseases: early detection of biomarkers (barcode technology) and imaging

treatment of diseases: drug delivery, controlled release of drugs and targeted therapies

theranostics: a new field of medicine which combines therapy and diagnostic tests

Question 3

define NP & give example

Answer 3

NP- a particle of any shape with dimensions in the 1-1000 nm range

• ex: 1 gold atom (in the picometer scale), but if you put several gold atoms together, it is now a NP

Question 4

biophysical properties of nanoparticles

Answer 4

biophysical properties change with size- gold nanoparticles are all different colors (bigger are pink, medium blue, small green)

• surface area is larger in nanoparticles (more surface exposed to air) than in larger scale items
• atoms and molecules at the surface have enhanced reactivity (high surface energy)

Question 5

list 4 facts about nanoparticles

Answer 5

1- the term “nanoparticle” is not usually applied to individual molecules; it usually refers to a cluster of molecules

2- a NP contains tens to thousands of molecules

3- they can be made of a variety of materials (metals, sugars, proteins, peptides, DNA…)

4- different geometry or size can lead to different to different physical, biological, or chemical properties

Question 6

name a few examples of “natural” nanoparticles

Answer 6

• proteins & antibodies
• protein ex: insulin
• ATP synthase & hemoglobin
• viruses: symmetric (polio) & asymmetric (influenza and HIV)

Question 7

we will mostly study ___ nanoparticles, which are made where?

Answer 7

synthetic
made in a lab, not occurring in nature

Question 8

describe synthetic nanoparticles

Answer 8

• classified as inorganic (mostly made of metals) or organic (made of carbons)
• organic NP’s are easily degraded by our body- organic used for treatments
  . dendrimers made of dendrons that come together
  . liposomes are made of phospholipids that assemble together
  . chitosan made of sugars
  . micelles

Question 9

describe hybrid NP’s

Answer 9

a mix of inorganic and organic NP’s

ex: spherical nucleic acids (SNA)- core made of gold (inorganic); attached to gold are DNA molecules (organic)
- can be used to diagnose alzheimers early on