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Author Jurado López, Alicia |
Abstract Cytotoxicity in healthy tissues, the limited ability to control therapeutic responses, and the development of multidrug resistance mean that cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. This fact leads to the research and development of new, more effective and less invasive therapies. Nanomedicine offers the possibility to address these clinical challenges by designing specific delivery systems that allow the combination of cancer therapies as well as the nanometric scale of prevention, diagnosis and early and reliable treatment of complex diseases. The most common examples of nanotechnology platforms for cancer therapy include polymeric NPs, liposomes, dendrimers, carbon nanotubes, magnetic NPs, and metallic NPs. Compared to other nanostructures, metallic nanoparticles have proven to be the most flexible nanostructures thanks to the synthetic control of their size, shape, composition, structure, assembly and encapsulation, as well as the resulting tuning of their optical properties. the metals most used in biomedicine are gold, due to its high biocompatibility with minimal tissue reaction. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) can be easily synthesized by different protocols that achieve different sizes and shapes as nanospheres or nanorods and also have the effect of plasmon resonance. This electronic nanoscale effect causes metallic nanoparticles to absorb and scatter electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths considerably longer than the particles themselves. This effect has been shown to favor changes in the conformation and permeability of membranes and the possibility of using localized heating of nanoparticles to remotely control biological functions could be explored for various biomedical applications, including cancer therapy and diagnosis. This fact leads to the research and development of new, more effective and less invasive therapies. Nanomedicine offers the possibility to address these clinical challenges by designing specific delivery systems that allow the combination of cancer therapies as well as the nanometric scale of prevention, diagnosis and early and reliable treatment of complex diseases. The most common examples of nanotechnology platforms for cancer therapy include polymeric NPs, liposomes, dendrimers, carbon nanotubes, magnetic NPs, and metallic NPs. Compared to other nanostructures, metallic nanoparticles have proven to be the most flexible nanostructures thanks to the synthetic control of their size, shape, composition, structure, assembly and encapsulation, as well as the resulting tuning of their optical properties. the metals most used in biomedicine are gold, due to its high biocompatibility with minimal tissue reaction. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) can be easily synthesized by different protocols that achieve different sizes and shapes as nanospheres or nanorods and also have the effect of plasmon resonance. This electronic nanoscale effect causes metallic nanoparticles to absorb and scatter electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths considerably longer than the particles themselves. This effect has been shown to favor changes in the conformation and permeability of membranes and the possibility of using localized heating of nanoparticles to remotely control biological functions could be explored for various biomedical applications, including cancer therapy and diagnosis. |
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Director Borrós i Gómez, Salvador |
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Degree IQS SE - Undergraduate Program in Biotechnology |
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Date 2020-09-08
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