Abstract
Nanotheranostics is one of the emerging research areas in the field of nanobiotechnology offering exciting promises for diagnosis, bio-separation, imaging mechanisms, hyperthermia, phototherapy, chemotherapy, drug delivery, gene delivery, among other uses. The major criteria for any nanotheranostic-materials is 1) to interact with proteins and cells without meddling with their basic activities, 2) to maintain their physical properties after surface modifications and 3) must be nontoxic. One of the challenging targets for nanotheranostics is the nervous system with major hindrances from the neurovascular units, the functional units of blood-brain barrier. As blood-brain barrier is crucial for protecting the CNS from toxins and metabolic fluctuations, most of the synthetic nanomaterials cannot pass through this barrier making it difficult for diagnosing or targeting the cells. Biodegradable nanoparticles show a promising role in this aspect. Certain neural pathologies have compromised barrier creating a path for most of the nanoparticles to enter into the cells. However, such carriers may pose a risk of side effects to non-neural tissues and their toxicity needs to be elucidated at preclinical levels. This article reviews about the different types of nanotheranostic strategies applied in nervous dysfunctions. Further, the side effects of these carriers are reviewed and appropriate methods to test the toxicity of such nano-carriers are suggested to improve the effectiveness of nano-carrier based diagnosis and treatments.
Highlights
One of the important advancements in nanotechnology is the evolution of dual-purpose strategies which can be used for both therapy and diagnosis
As mentioned earlier these conjugated nanocomposites can act as all-in one platform where one can use them in diverse applications such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), down-conversion fluorescence (FL) imaging, upconversion luminescence (UCL) and magnetic drug delivery for in vivo and in vitro use (Xu et al, 2011))
Extensive studies have implicated that the Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a major role from different regions of neurons, for eg: EVs from dendritic cells are observed to have remyelination abilities as observed in a model of multiple sclerosis (MS), EVs from Schwann cells were reported to possess axonal regeneration abilities, EVS from oligodendrocytes were crucial for neuronal integrity as they take part in releasing neurotransmitters (Fuster-Matanzo et al, 2015)
Summary
One of the important advancements in nanotechnology is the evolution of dual-purpose strategies which can be used for both therapy and diagnosis. This dual nanomolecules in other terms is known as theranostics. One of the emerging research in the field of drug delivery is the combination of biochemistry and molecular biology with nanotechnology, known as nanobiotechnology. Nanoparticles have attained significant attention due to their versatility and potential applications (Gao et al, 2009). They are considered as one of the most promising methods to treat cancer and many other diseases. It is essential to be nontoxic (Solanki et al, 2008)
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