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Review
. 2019 Sep 24;9(10):1365.
doi: 10.3390/nano9101365.

Interactions of Nanoparticles and Biosystems: Microenvironment of Nanoparticles and Biomolecules in Nanomedicine

Affiliations
Review

Interactions of Nanoparticles and Biosystems: Microenvironment of Nanoparticles and Biomolecules in Nanomedicine

Carlota Auría-Soro et al. Nanomaterials (Basel). .

Abstract

Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary science covering matters involving the nanoscale level that is being developed for a great variety of applications. Nanomedicine is one of these attractive and challenging uses focused on the employment of nanomaterials in medical applications such as drug delivery. However, handling these nanometric systems require defining specific parameters to establish the possible advantages and disadvantages in specific applications. This review presents the fundamental factors of nanoparticles and its microenvironment that must be considered to make an appropriate design for medical applications, mainly: (i) Interactions between nanoparticles and their biological environment, (ii) the interaction mechanisms, (iii) and the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles. On the other hand, the repercussions of the control, alter and modify these parameters in the biomedical applications. Additionally, we briefly report the implications of nanoparticles in nanomedicine and precision medicine, and provide perspectives in immunotherapy, which is opening novel applications as immune-oncology.

Keywords: biomolecules; interactions; nanomedicine; nanoparticles; protein corona.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of different ways to enter nanoparticles (NPs) in the human body and inside cells.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic representation of multi-functional nanoparticles.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic representation of the strategy to couple nanoparticles and biomolecules or other nanoparticles.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic illustration of the main physicochemical properties of nanoparticles governing interaction mechanisms in biological systems.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Schematic protein corona formation. First, the introduction of a nanoparticle to fluid/medium enriched in protein content takes place (I). Then, the nanoparticle is coated with proteins, which are abundant and highly mobile (II). Lastly, the protein species are exchanged over time, which results in hard corona of strongly bound proteins (III).

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