Nanomaterials and therapeutic applications

Question 1

What is nanotechnology?

Answer 1

Manipulation of materials at the nanoscale

Question 2

What are the benefits of nanotechnology?

Answer 2

More efficient

Less wasteful

Complete control over process

Question 3

What does macro mean?

Answer 3

Things we can deterct with the eyes

Question 4

What does micro mean?

Answer 4

Thigs we can see with a light microscope

Includes cells

Down to 10^-6 of a m

Question 5

What does nano mean?

Answer 5

Components of the cells

Need more sophisticate microscopes

Question 6

What does pico mean?

Answer 6

Can’t theoretically see

Components of an atom

Measured using a H collider

Question 7

How many units is the difference between macro-> micro-> nano -> pico?

Answer 7

10^-3

Question 8

What effect does the increase of SA:V of molecules on a nanoscale have on properties of molecules?

Answer 8

Changes thermal, mechanical and catalytic properties of the molecules

Question 9

What is a material that reflects the tunability of nanotechnology to fundamental properties without altering the chemical composition?

Answer 9

Carbon

Question 10

What are the different forms we can find carbon?

Answer 10

Soot

Graphite

Buckyball

Graphene

Nanotubes

Question 11

What is soot?

Answer 11

Amorphous or randomly organised carbon

Naturally ocurring

Manipulating the structure of this material on a nanoscale produces man-made nanomaterials

Question 12

What is graphite?

Answer 12

Hexagonal grids of carbon

Sea of free electrons above and below the plane

Layers allowed to slide past one another

Question 13

What is a buckyball?

Answer 13

Hollow cage ligke structure

Used for drug delivery

Question 14

What is Graphene?

Answer 14

One atom thick sheets of carbon

Almost 2D materials

Electrons can move around to form superconductors - conductivity can be altered by changing orientation of the stacking of these layers

Question 15

What are Nanotubes?

Answer 15

Rolled up graphene sheets

Thermally conductive

Allows to package things

Question 16

Why is it useful to use nanotechnology in medicine?

Answer 16

Most body interactions happen on as nanoscale

Enxymatic reactions
Cell to cell communication

Question 17

What are 3 ways in which we can use nanotechnology in medicine?

Answer 17

Diagnostics

Treatment

Monitoring

Question 18

How can nanotechnology be used to diagnose conditions?

Answer 18

Detect and identify markers for the disease

Biosensors and microarrays

Question 19

What are the three parts of diagnostics using nanomaterials?

Answer 19

1. Sample - urine, cell culture and food
2. Sample is detercted by a bioreceptor of biological component
3. Electical interface transduces the signal resulting from that interaction into another signal that can be quantified

Question 20

What is an example of nanomaterials used for diagnostic purposes?

Answer 20

Microarray

Grid-like array of tiny spots of nucleic acid

Attached to solid substrate

Allows to screen for many thousands of genes at once

Can map entire genomes - each dot represents one gene, used in genomics and drug screening

Question 21

How can nanoparticles be used to treat conditions?

Answer 21

Nano-vehicle -> drug delivery

Tissue engineering

Regenerative medicine - nanocoatings and nanocomposites

Question 22

How do nanoparticles designed for drug delivery escape opsonisation by the immune system?

Answer 22

Surface of nanoparticles is conjugated with proteins and polymers

Question 23

What is another advantage of coating nano-vehicles with proteins?

Answer 23

Prevent clearance

More time for drug to be taken up by the target tissues

Question 24

What is another strategy used by nano-vehicles to enhace they uptake of drugs by tissues?

Answer 24

Nano-vehicles can adhere to antibodies, ligands and peptides

To enhance uptake in tissues

Question 25

How can nanoparticles be used for monitoring of conditions?

Answer 25

Imaging purposes

Question 26

What is an example of a nanoparticle readily used for imaging purposes?

Answer 26

Gold nanoparticles Exhibit tumour retention time

Question 27

What determines the migration of imaging nanoparticles to different parts of the body?

Answer 27

Size Charge Surface ligand

Question 28

How do nanovehicles accumulate at tumour sites?

Answer 28

Leach out from leaky tumour vasculature into surrounding tissue Retained at tumour sites due to dysfunctional lymphatic drainage system = enhanced permability and retention effect

Question 29

What detemines the distribution of nano vehicles in cancer-striken patient?

Answer 29

Tumour cell growth gradient Intertumour pressure

Question 30

How do nanoparticles target tumours?

Answer 30

Nanoparticles target the tumour using: Molecular ligands - antibodies and peptides That recognise protein targets and receptors overexpressed on the surface of tumour cells

Question 31

Disadvantages of nano-vehicle drug delivery

Answer 31

Long term tocity of nanoparticles hasn't been established Clearance time Undesired accumulation in non-target tissues following delivery routes Non-biodegradable particles

Question 32

How can nanoparticles be used to engineer tissues?

Answer 32

Can be used to communicate and interact with surrounding environement Nanoconstructs designed to create synthetic tissues where cells can grow Nanomaterials can also be used to build cell-responsive scaffolds - mimic ECM

Question 33

How must nanoconstructed engineered tissue match organic matter?

Answer 33

Nanomaterials must match organic matter in: Mechanical properties Surface chemistry Typography

Question 34

Example where nanomaterial is used as disinfectant

Answer 34

Impregnate catheters with light-activatable dyes and gold nanoparticles Lazer light of specific wavelenght is introduced up the lumen of the catheter Reactivity of gold nanoparticles and dyes yield ROSs Destroy cells and produce antimicrobial effects

Question 35

What is the range of size of nanoengineered systems?

Answer 35

1 - 100 nm

Question 36

What are the different types of materials that can make up nanomaterials?

Answer 36

Organic/ inorganic Biodegradable/ non-biodegradable

Question 37

What factors can modulate nanoparticle distribution in the body?

Answer 37

Size Chemical composition Hydrophobicity Surface charge Shape

Question 38

What are the different shapes of nanoparticles?

Answer 38

Rod-shaped -> gold Spherical -> silicon Icosahedral

Question 39

What pathogen do nanomaterial shapes mimic?

Answer 39

Viruses - effective biological nanomachines Mimic their efficacy of cellular uptake

Question 40

What is a theranostic?

Answer 40

Describes multifunctionalizatin of nanoparticles Can incorporate therapeutic and imaging agents into one nanoparticle

Question 41

What are advantages of theranostics?

Answer 41

Improves prognosis of conditions

Question 42

How do nanoparticles interact with host?

Answer 42

Via the nano-bio interface

Question 43

What are the 3 components to the nano-bio interface?

Answer 43

Nanoparticle surface physiochemical composition Interaction with components surrounding the medium - proteins and aq environment in blood Contact zone or interface with biological surface

Question 44

What does the nanoparticle surface physiochemical composition determine?

Answer 44

Whether the nanoparticle is biodegradable or not

Question 45

What does the contact zone with biological substrate refer to?

Answer 45

How the nanoparticle binds to the CSM on target cells