Behaviors and Persistence of Nanomaterials in Biomedical Applications

The use of nanomaterials in medicine has made great breakthroughs, but the obstacle right now is how to reduce the bad toxicological effects. This book comprehensively reviews strategies how nanomaterials can safely exit the organisms after the medicine has been administered.

In the last two decades, several promising engineered nanomaterials that combine therapeutic features and imaging functionalities have been presented, but very few have arrived on the market. The purpose of this book is to collect and comprehensively discuss the advances in this current and exciting topic in order to promote and enhance its growth. In the first part, a general introduction about the main features of both organic and inorganic nanomaterials is provided. Then, the most promising and innovative applications for cancer treatment and diagnostic are introduced.

In the second part, an analysis of the nanomaterials in the market for healthcare applications is presented. The issue of unwanted accumulation of metals in organisms after the designed action is then discussed. Finally, the most recent progress in the design of nanomaterials that are able to escape from organisms after the selected action are comprehensively described, along with the future research potential of this exciting field.

Audience

The book will be read by researchers and scientists in academia and pharmaceutical companies. Nanotechnologists, materials scientists, biotechnologists, chemists, biomedical engineers will be especially interested.

Preface vii

1 Introduction 1

References 3

2 Nanomaterials 5

2.1 Physical Properties of Nanomaterials 5

2.1.1 Thermodynamic Properties: Melting Point Depression and Superheating 7

2.1.2 Optical Properties 10

2.1.3 Magnetism 14

2.2 Nanomaterials: An Overview 21

2.2.1 Organic Nanoparticles 21

2.2.2 Inorganic Nanoparticles 38

References 65

3 Promising Applications in Medicine 79

3.1 Diagnostics 80

3.1.1 X–Ray Computed Tomography 80

3.1.2 Photoacoustic Imaging 85

3.1.3 Positron Emission Tomography 88

3.1.4 Magnetic Resonance Imaging 90

3.1.5 Raman–Based Diagnostics 95

3.2 Therapy 99

3.2.1 Chemotherapy 99

3.2.2 Hyperthermia 105

3.2.3 Radiotherapy 112

References 116

4 Interactions of Nanomaterials with Biological Systems 137

4.1 Cellular Level (in vitro) 137

4.1.1 Cellular Uptake and Intracellular Fate 137

4.1.2 Physio–Chemical Dependence of Nanomaterials Uptake 145

4.1.3 Cytotoxicity 149

4.2 Body Level (in vivo) 153

4.2.1 Blood Circulation 154

4.2.2 Immune/Inflammatory Response 168

4.2.3 Metabolism (RES, Degradation, Excretion and Persistence) 173

References 183

5 Nanomaterials in the Market or in the Way of 201

5.1 Approval pipeline (FDA and EMA) 202

5.2 Nanotherapeutics 205

5.3 Nanodiagnostics 209

References 212

6 Avoiding the Persistence of Metal Nanomaterials 217

6.1 Ultrasmall–in–Nano Approach 218

6.2 Porphyrin–Based Nanomaterials 229

References 233

7 Conclusions and Perspectives 241

References 244

Index 247

Domenico Cassano obtained his MSc in physics in 2014 and he is currently a PhD student in Biophysical Sciences at Scuola Normale Superiore Center for Nanotechnology Innovation, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Pisa, Italy). His PhD project focuses on the development of novel disassembling nano–architectures for combined chemo/radiotherapy. The main aim of his project is to enable the translation of metal nanoparticles to the clinics, which is still hampered by the issue of persistence of metals in the organisms.

Valerio Voliani received his PhD in Biophysics from Scuola Normale Superiore in 2006. He is currently a Researcher at the Center for Nanotechnology Innovation, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Pisa, Italy). His efforts are devoted in filling the gap between inorganic nanomaterials and clinical applications. By applying the ultrasmall–in–nano approach he has developed the passion fruit–like nano–architectures: nature–inspired inorganic nanoparticles that jointly combine theranostic efficacy with excretion of the building blocks from organism. He is the recipient of an individual AIRC grant, and he is now working on innovative theranostics for neoplasms treatment. He was recognized by the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM) Scientist medal in 2016.