A nanocommunication system for endocrine diseases

Nanotechnology is a newand very promising area of research which will allow several new applications to be created in different fields, such as, biological, medical, environmental, military, agricultural, industrial and consumer goods. This paper focuses specifically on nanocommunications, which will allow interconnected devices, at the nano-scale, to achieve collaborative tasks, greatly changing the paradigm in the fields described. Molecular communication is a new communication paradigm which allows nanomachines to exchange information using molecules as carrier. This is the most promising nanocommunication method within nanonetworks, since it can use bio-inspired techniques, inherit from studied biological systems, which makes the connection of biologic and man-made systems a easier process. At this point, the biggest challenges in these type of nanocommunication are to establish feasible and reliable techniques that will allow information to be encoded, and mechanisms that ensure a molecular communication between different nodes. This paper focus on creating concepts and techniques to tackle these challenges, and establishing new foundations on which future work can be developed. The created concepts and techniques are then applied in an envisioned medical application, which is based on a molecular nanonetwork deployed inside the Human body. The goal of this medical application is to automatously monitor endocrine diseases using the benefits of nanonetworks, which in turn connects with the internet, thus creating a Internet of NanoThings system. The concepts and techniques developed are evaluated by performing several simulations and comparing with other researches, and the results and discussions are presented on the later sections of this paper

Building membrane nanopores

Membrane nanopores—hollow nanoscale barrels that puncture biological or synthetic membranes—have become powerful tools in chemical- and biosensing, and have achieved notable success in portable DNA sequencing. The pores can be self-assembled from a variety of materials, including proteins, peptides, synthetic organic compounds and, more recently, DNA. But which building material is best for which application, and what is the relationship between pore structure and function? In this Review, I critically compare the characteristics of the different building materials, and explore the influence of the building material on pore structure, dynamics and function. I also discuss the future challenges of developing nanopore technology, and consider what the next-generation of nanopore structures could be and where further practical applications might emerge

A comprehensive survey of recent advancements in molecular communication

With much advancement in the field of nanotechnology, bioengineering and synthetic biology over the past decade, microscales and nanoscales devices are becoming a reality. Yet the problem of engineering a reliable communication system between tiny devices is still an open problem. At the same time, despite the prevalence of radio communication, there are still areas where traditional electromagnetic waves find it difficult or expensive to reach. Points of interest in industry, cities, and medical applications often lie in embedded and entrenched areas, accessible only by ventricles at scales too small for conventional radio waves and microwaves, or they are located in such a way that directional high frequency systems are ineffective. Inspired by nature, one solution to these problems is molecular communication (MC), where chemical signals are used to transfer information. Although biologists have studied MC for decades, it has only been researched for roughly 10 year from a communication engineering lens. Significant number of papers have been published to date, but owing to the need for interdisciplinary work, much of the results are preliminary. In this paper, the recent advancements in the field of MC engineering are highlighted. First, the biological, chemical, and physical processes used by an MC system are discussed. This includes different components of the MC transmitter and receiver, as well as the propagation and transport mechanisms. Then, a comprehensive survey of some of the recent works on MC through a communication engineering lens is provided. The paper ends with a technology readiness analysis of MC and future research directions

Investigating Mechanisms of Nanotoxicity of a Next-Generation Lithium Cobalt Oxide Nanomaterial

Commercial use of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs; materials in the range of 1-100 nm) has grown dramatically since the discovery of the means to observe, characterize, and controllably synthesize these materials at the end of the 20th century. Today, ENMs represent a global market valued in the trillions of dollars, incorporated into products because of the unique properties they confer, including increased strength, catalytic activity, and interactions with light. In this time, ENMs have also grown from relatively simple first-generation materials, such as Au, Ag, and carbon ENMs, to complex next-generation materials incorporating numerous elements into materials with complex secondary structures, such as the lithium intercalating complex metal oxide cathode materials used in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The commercial use of ENMs results in ENM waste on the order of hundreds of thousands to millions of tons annually, enough that ENM waste represents an emerging environmental concern. LIB cathode waste alone amounts to hundreds of thousands of tons annually, with little of this recycled. As the development and use of ENMs has grown, alongside it has grown the field of nanotoxicology, determined to understand if the same properties, such as size, core material, surface area, and surface chemistry, that confer useful properties to ENMs also imbue them with toxicity toward biological systems. However, while the diversity of ENMs has grown, the field of nanotoxicology has focused to a large extent on examining the toxicity of first-generation materials (e.g., Au and Ag) and on oxidative stress as the mechanism of nanotoxicity. Oxidative stress as a mechanism of nanotoxicity is understood as a general mechanism of cellular damage by reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, simple observation of ROS is not explanatory of ENM toxicity, as ROS are not only damaging molecules, but are involved in regulation of critical cellular processes including metabolism, growth, and differentiation. Therefore, the presence of redox-sensitive components in these pathways makes them susceptible to specific interactions with redox-active ENMs or ROS even at sublethal, physiologically relevant concentrations. Environmental nanotoxicology has also focused to a large degree on the aquatic invertebrate Daphnia magna, whose wide use in the field of toxicology more generally makes it a broadly applicable model. However, D. magna reside in the water column, while many ENMs are expected to settle in the aquatic environment and concentrate in the sediment, making testing on sediment-dwelling organisms such as the invertebrate midge species Chironomus riparius important for understanding the potential environmental impacts of ENMs. Overcoming these limitations of nanotoxicology requires testing of next-generation ENMs, including on sediment-dwelling organisms, and the exploration of mechanisms of nanotoxicology at the molecular level, beyond simple oxidative stress. A useful framework to guide the elucidation of this molecular-level understanding is the adverse outcome pathway (AOP). In this framework, the interaction of a toxicant such as an ENM with a biological system is understood from the standpoint of a molecular interaction between the toxicant and a biological component (called the molecular initiating event; MIE), which results in a series of key events (KEs) that occur in the biological system in response to this impact, and ultimately causes an adverse outcome (AO) for the biological system, such as the death of an organism or cell. By using molecular tools to interrogate ENM impacts at each stage of this process, it is possible to trace observed AOs through their series of associated KEs and ultimately down to the specific MIE(s). This thesis sought to address the shortcomings of current nanotoxicology by using molecular methods to inform an AOP for the toxicity of the next-generation complex metal oxide LIB cathode material lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) in sediment-dwelling Chironomus riparius and in Daphnia magna. Results of these investigations demonstrate oxidation of the Fe-S center of energy metabolism enzyme aconitase as an MIE of LCO toxicity, disrupted heme synthesis and energy metabolism as KEs by targeted and global gene expression analysis, KEs of altered metabolic gene expression and metabolite levels toward energy production by combined global gene expression and non-targeted metabolomics, and AOs of reduced growth and delayed development. This work thus demonstrates the paradigm by which ENM toxicity can be understood at the molecular level, including the interconnections of the MIE, KEs, and AOs for LCO within the AOP framework. Furthermore, this AOP, placed in the context of the literature, suggest a general AOP for toxicity of metal oxide ENMs in which the redox chemistry of a metal oxide ENM causes oxidation of redox-sensitive biological components, such as proteins and cofactors involved in energy metabolism, disrupting critical processes including energy metabolism, and ultimately disrupting growth and development at the organism level. Further exploration of the details of this AOP represent an exciting future direction for the investigation of the interaction of metal oxide ENMs with biological systems

Fundamentals of molecular information and communication science

© 1963-2012 IEEE. Molecular communication (MC) is the most promising communication paradigm for nanonetwork realization since it is a natural phenomenon observed among living entities with nanoscale components. Since MC significantly differs from classical communication systems, it mandates reinvestigation of information and communication theoretical fundamentals. The closest examples of MC architectures are present inside our own body. Therefore, in this paper, we investigate the existing literature on intrabody nanonetworks and different MC paradigms to establish and introduce the fundamentals of molecular information and communication science. We highlight future research directions and open issues that need to be addressed for revealing the fundamental limits of this science. Although the scope of this development encompasses wide range of applications, we particularly emphasize its significance for life sciences by introducing potential diagnosis and treatment techniques for diseases caused by dysfunction of intrabody nanonetworks

Gene Delivery by Hydroxyapatite and Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles: A Review of Novel and Recent Applications

Gene therapy is a targeted therapy which can be used in the treatment of various acquired and inherited diseases. Inhabitation of a gene function, restoring or improving a gene, or gaining a new function can be achieved by gene therapy strategies. The most crucial step in this therapy is delivering the therapeutic material to the target. Nanosized calcium phosphates (CaPs) have been considered as promising carriers due to their excellent biocompatibility. In this chapter, the delivery of DNA, siRNA, and miRNA by using CaP nanocarriers were compiled in detail and the main parameters which can affect the carrier properties and thus the gene transfer efficiency were also discussed