Department of Nanomedicine and Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Adv Genet. 2010;69:31-64. doi: 10.1016/S0065-2660(10)69009-8.
The use of nanoparticles for the early detection, cure, and imaging of diseases has been proved already to have a colossal potential in different biomedical fields, such as oncology and cardiology. A broad spectrum of nanoparticles are currently under development, exhibiting differences in (i) size, ranging from few tens of nanometers to few microns; (ii) shape, from the classical spherical beads to discoidal, hemispherical, cylindrical, and conical; (iii) surface functionalization, with a wide range of electrostatic charges and biomolecule conjugations. Clearly, the library of nanoparticles generated by combining all possible sizes, shapes, and surface physicochemical properties is enormous. With such a complex scenario, an integrated approach is here proposed and described for the rational design of nanoparticle systems (nanovectors) for the intravascular delivery of therapeutic and imaging contrast agents. The proposed integrated approach combines multiscale/multiphysics mathematical models with in vitro assays and in vivo intravital microscopy (IVM) experiments and aims at identifying the optimal combination of size, shape, and surface properties that maximize the nanovectors localization within the diseased microvasculature.
用于疾病的早期检测、治疗和成像的纳米粒子已被证明在肿瘤学和心脏病学等不同的生物医学领域具有巨大的潜力。目前正在开发广泛的纳米粒子，其差异在于（i）尺寸，从几十纳米到几微米不等；（ii）形状，从经典的球形珠到盘状、半球形、圆柱形和圆锥形；（iii）表面功能化，具有广泛的静电电荷和生物分子结合。显然，通过组合所有可能的尺寸、形状和表面物理化学性质生成的纳米粒子库是巨大的。在这种复杂的情况下，提出并描述了一种综合方法，用于合理设计用于治疗和成像对比剂的血管内递药的纳米粒子系统（纳米载体）。所提出的综合方法将多尺度/多物理数学模型与体外测定和体内活体显微镜（IVM）实验相结合，旨在确定尺寸、形状和表面特性的最佳组合，以最大限度地将纳米载体定位于病变的微血管内。
