Department of Chemistry, FFCLRP-USP, University of São Paulo - USP, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
Department of Biology, ICB-UFMG, Federal University of Minas Gerais - UFMG, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2018;1048:251-262. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-72041-8_15.
Nanotechnology has allowed great changes in chemical, biological and physical properties of metals when compared to their bulk counterparts. Within this context, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) play a major role due to their unique properties, being widely used in daily products such as fabrics, washing machines, water filters, food and medicine. However, AgNPs can enter cells inducing a "Trojan-horse" type mechanism which potentially leads to cellular autophagy, apoptosis or necrosis. On the other hand, this cytotoxicity mechanism can be optimized to develop drug nanocarriers and anticancer therapies. The increasing use of these NPs entails their release into the environment, damaging ecosystems balance and representing a threat to human health. In this context, the possible deleterious effects that these NPs may represent for the biotic and abiotic ecosystems components represent an obstacle that must be overcome in order to guarantee the safety use of their unique properties.
与块状金属相比，纳米技术使得金属的化学、生物和物理性质发生了巨大变化。在这种情况下，由于具有独特的性质，银纳米粒子（AgNPs）发挥了重要作用，被广泛应用于日常产品，如织物、洗衣机、水过滤器、食品和药品。然而，AgNPs 可以进入细胞，诱导一种“特洛伊木马”类型的机制，从而可能导致细胞自噬、细胞凋亡或细胞坏死。另一方面，这种细胞毒性机制可以被优化，以开发药物纳米载体和抗癌疗法。这些纳米粒子的使用越来越多，导致它们被释放到环境中，破坏生态系统平衡，对人类健康构成威胁。在这种情况下，这些纳米粒子可能对生物和非生物生态系统成分造成的有害影响是一个必须克服的障碍，以保证其独特性质的安全使用。
