Biological responses to nanoscale particles.

Reinhard Zellner

doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.37

Abstract

Biological responses to nanoscale particles.

Highlights

Nanoscale particles are known to exhibit novel and unprecedented properties that make them quite different from their corresponding bulk-scale materials
There is a lack of existing methodologies to improve techniques for nanoparticle characterization, the detection and localization of nanoparticles in biological systems, as well as the biological activity, fate and persistence of such systems. The complexity of this problem is amplified by the huge variety of nanoscale materials and objects as well as the enormous number of potential biomolecules and cells, creating a large parameter space to be examined
The bio–nano response beginning at an exposure entry port such as the lung, the GI tract or the skin has been studied as a sequence of interactions, namely, Beilstein J

Summary

Introduction

Nanoscale particles are known to exhibit novel and unprecedented properties that make them quite different from their corresponding bulk-scale materials. Catalytic activity and the various interactions with molecules (including biomolecules) occur at the surface of nanoparticles, a given mass of material in nanoparticle form will be much more reactive than the same mass of bulk material. A fundamental understanding of interactions between nanoparticles and biological systems at the molecular and cellular level are to be investigated.

Results

Conclusion