Creative use of analytical techniques and high-throughput technology to facilitate safety assessment of engineered nanomaterials

Abstract

With the rapid development and numerous applications of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in science and technology, their impact on environmental health and safety should be considered carefully. This requires an effective platform to investigate the potential adverse effects and hazardous biological outcomes of numerous nanomaterials and their formulations. We consider predictive toxicology a rational approach for this effort, which utilizes mechanism-based in vitro high-throughput screening (HTS) to make predictions on ENMs' adverse outcomes in vivo. Moreover, this approach is able to link the physicochemical properties of ENMs to toxicity that allows the development of structure-activity relationships (SARs). To build this predictive platform, extensive analytical and bioanalytical techniques and tools are required. In this review, we described the predictive toxicology approach and the accompanying analytical and bioanalytical techniques. In addition, we elaborated several successful examples as a result of using the predictive approach.

Nanoparticle‐Based Activatable Probes for Bioimaging

“…[131] To establish this approach, four elements are essential: 1) a well combinational nanoparticle library, 2) rigorous physicochemical characterizations of nanomaterials, 3) development of in vitro HTS approaches to assess biological effects of nanomaterials quantitatively, 4) establishment of quantitative structure-activity relationships (SAR) with in vivo results. [132] In this predictive toxicological paradigm, HTS will be used to achieve rapid hazard ranking among a batch of nanoprobes. [129,130,133,134] The cells will include epithelial cells, endothelial cells, liver cells including Kupffer cells and hepatocytes, etc.…”

Continued Efforts on Nanomaterial‐Environmental Health and Safety Is Critical to Maintain Sustainable Growth of Nanoindustry

“…[11,13,18,20,87] Especially, it is important to link the physicochemical properties of ENMs to the toxicological outcomes. [10][11][12]16,87,88] iii) After years of development, there are still enormous obstacles and limitations for the current computational models to precisely characterize nano toxicology. Thus, computational models (e.g., nano-oriented Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship models, Nano-QSAR) should be improved to identify the key characteristics that dictate the nano-EHS.…”

Functionalized Nanomaterial Assembling and Biosynthesis Using the Extremophile Deinococcus radiodurans for Multifunctional Applications

“…These proteins with a high reducing potential may have an ability to synthesize and self‐assemble nanomaterials. Biosynthesis of nanomaterials via S‐layer proteins will be helpful to understand nanomaterial structure–property–function relationships and develop scalable methods for synthesizing self‐assembled nanomaterials with tight control over shape, size, and surface properties . It is also important to synthesize nanomaterials with precise control over shape, size, composition, and surface properties through natural materials, including D. radiodurans , for their efficient applications ( Figure ).…”

“…Major physicochemical properties that help to design and develop ideal nanomaterials, including size, shape, dissolution, surface charge, surface functional groups, hydrophobicity, and chemical composition. Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2018, Springer‐Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.…”