Interactions of Engineered Nanomaterials with Lipid Interfaces

Abstract

The emergent applications of nanomaterials in food, cosmetics, bio-sensing, electronics, and medical products necessitates evaluation of their toxicity upon human exposure. Once inside the body, nanomaterials can interact with human cells. The cell membrane, a lipid bilayer that separates the cell from the outer environment, is the first cellular entity that “meets” the nanoparticles. Thus, understanding the interactions of nanoparticles with the cell membrane is expected to provide an understanding of the potential toxicity of such materials. However, despite a number of studies, a clear understanding of the mechanisms of nanoparticle-cell membrane interactions is still lacking and the role of nanoparticle physicochemical properties in such interactions remains ill-defined. In this talk, I will give an overview of my studies on the interactions of engineered nanoparticles with lipid interfaces, including lipid monolayers and bilayers representing simple models of biological membranes. Mechanisms of interactions between engineered polystyrene and silica nanoparticles and lipid interfaces will be discussed and an overview on how nanoparticle physicochemical properties might affect their interactions with lipid interfaces will be provided.