Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
24
Noble
Me
talNanoparticlesinDrugDelivery
RobertT.TshikhudoandNdabenhleM.Sosibo
NanotechnologyInnovationCentre,Mintek,Randberg,SouthAfrica
CONTENTS
24.1. Metal.Nanoparticles.in.Drug.Discovery....................................................................... 479
24.2. The.Nano-Bio.Interface.................................................................................................... 480
24.2.1. Targeted.Drug.Delivery.Systems..................................................................... 480
24.2.2. Nanoparticle-Based.Targeting.Strategies....................................................... 481
24.2.2.1. Mechanism.of.Uptake....................................................................... 481
24.3. The.Importance.of.Noble.Metal.Nanoparticles.or Monolayer-Protected.
Clusters.(MPCs)................................................................................................................ 482
24.3.1. Essential.Properties............................................................................................ 482
24.3.2. Nanomaterials.Preparation............................................................................... 483
24.3.3. Attachment.of.Biomolecular.Functionality.on.Nanoparticles..................... 486
24.3.4. Key.Properties.of.the.Ideal.MPC.Bioconjugate.System................................. 488
24.4. The.Use.of.Noble.MPCs.in.Therapeutics...................................................................... 488
24.4.1. Cancer.Targeting.Strategies.Using.Metal.Nanoparticles............................. 488
24.4.2. Photothermal.Cancer.Therapy......................................................................... 489
24.4.3. Antiangiogenic.Gold.Nanoparticles................................................................ 490
24.5. Fate.of.Nanoparticles.in.Live.Systems........................................................................... 490
24.6. Toxicity.Issues................................................................................................................... 491
24.7. Summary.and.Outlook.................................................................................................... 492
References..................................................................................................................................... 492
24.1 MetalNanoparticlesinDrugDiscovery
There.is.a.general.need.for.improvements.in.current.drug.discovery.methodologies.moti-
vated.by.less.than.ideal.screening.and.validation.eficiencies.of.targets.
1
.Potential.useful.
targets.have.been.unearthed.via.proteomic.and.genomic.techniques.with.microarray.tech-
nology,.allowing.for.the.extraction.of.further.information.from.smaller.sample.volumes..
However,.problems.associated.with.the.biological.and.chemical.aspects.of.targets.selected.
have. been. shown. to. be. a. constant. hurdle. during. this. process.. These. challenges. include.
poorly. validated. targets. failing. at. various. stages. or. failures. in. lead. assessments.. High-
throughput.screening.(HTS).technologies.have.thus.far.been.used.in.candidate.selection.
of. leads. and. address. the. quantitative. aspect. of. this. process.. Further. improvements. are.
required. in. order. for. quality. to. be. ensured. in. minimal. time. and. high. eficiency.
2
. This.
would. ensure. the. decrease. in. time. to. market. of. possible. drug. candidates,. as. secondary.
screening. tends. to. require. more. time. in. optimizing. via. synthetic. chemistry. techniques.
479
