Research Information System
in: Design, Fabrication, and Characterization of Multifunctional Nanomaterials, Sabu Thomas Nandakumar Kalarikkal Ann Rose Abraham, Editor, Elsevier Science, Oxford/Amsterdam , Amsterdam, pp.147-158, 2021
Nanomedicine is a rapidly evolving field, which combines advances made in medicine, genetics, basic science, proteomics, and technology. It is a tool for the investigation, manipulation, and ultimately the control of atoms, molecules, and objects with size ranging from 1 to 100 nm [1]. These materials can be synthetic or natural materials, and due to their size they have the ability to translocate efficiently across cell membrane of the cells [1]. Taking into account that most of the inner cellular functions occur on a nanoscale level, nanomedicine has the ability to alter these cellular functions. Many researchers have already explored medical treatments and devices based on nanotechnology, often referred to as nanotherapeutics, to increase treatment efficacy and sensitivity and adding new therapeutic modalities to our armamentarium. The most common application of nanomaterials has been the design of carriers that deliver therapeutic payload to diseased cells. Such nanocarriers include liposomes, dendrimers, organic polymer nanoparticles, micelles, inorganic mesoporous silica nanoparticles, and many others [2]. These synthetic and natural polymer carriers have been designed to encapsulate therapeutic agents and carry them to specific sites in the body [3]. Cancer treatment is among the most commonly studied area, where various nanoparticles have been engineered aiming to extend the systemic circulatory half-life of chemotherapeutic drugs, allow diffusion from blood vessels in the tumor, with enhanced permeability, selectively attach to tumor cells, identify the location and boundaries of the tumor, and finally release chemotherapeutic substances [3e5]. In addition, gold and silver
nanoparticles are two materials that have been used for the treatment of cancer and infection [6,7]. Gold nanoparticles have been used in tumor chemotherapy, radiotherapy, photodynamic, and gene therapy [7]. In a recent report, silver nanoparticles have found to have a dual effect against bacteria [6]. They induced a strong antimicrobial effect but also inhibited quorum sensing, which is the process of chemical communication used by bacteria to regulate virulence [6]. Current evidence has suggested that the use of nanotechnology can improve the bioavailability of medicines by protecting them from degradation and deactivation [3]. They can incorporate a controlled release mechanism and alter the pharmacokinetics of the drugs inducing a greater response [3,8]. With regard to medicines, the use of nanomaterials can improve drug solubility and overall safety [3,8]. There are still, however, several challenges to address. Some authors reported rapid clearance from circulation and limited capacity to cross-biological barriers such as the blood-brain barrier, as critical issues [9,10]. In addition to the use of nanomaterials as carriers of chemotherapeutic substances, other applications have also emerged. Metal-containing functionalized nanoparticles can be used for the imaging of cancer, extend therapeutic indices, and improve early diagnosis [11]. Alternatively, photonic nanomaterials that can either emit or absorb or respond to light like nanoparticles, semiconductor quantum dots, plasmonic metal, organic carbon and others can be utilized in diagnosis of a range of pathologies [12]. Microfabricated devices like for example the neural prosthetic devices have allowed recording from neural tissues andthe control of their functions [13]. More sophisticated devices often referred to as nanobionics, involve devices that can communicate information from inside the body or targeted cells and allow the analysis and possible control of the function of the cells [14]. Despite the impressive developments in the field of functional nanomaterials, commercialization of such advantages has been slow. Very few systems have found clinical applications and are used in the clinical practice. Among those that reached the clinical pipeline and granted approval for clinical use by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) include Doxil (pegylated liposomal doxorubicin) and Abraxane (albumin-bound
paclitaxel) [15,16]. Collectively, 20 years of research has resulted in 50 nanomaterials achieving FDA approval [17]. This slow bench-to-bedside translation rates seems to be multifactorial. One of the most critical challenges however, is the absence of robust preclinical platform for tissue culture. These platforms should be biomimetic recapitulating the in vivo environment, hence, able to predict the effect of these nanoparticles within the human body. Animal in vivo testing was once the mainstay prior to clinical applications. However, errant pharmacokinetics and diversity of outcome between experimental animal studies and humans had led to skepticism and abandonment of some of these experiments prior to clinical trials [18]. Organ-on-a-chip (OoC) technology is a recently developed method that could bridge the gap and aims to enable a solid preclinical testing. The aim of this chapter is to present our current understanding on the use of OoC method for testing nanomaterials.