Nanomechanical IR spectroscopy for fast analysis of liquid-dispersed engineered nanomaterials

AbstractThe proliferated use of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs), e.g. in nanomedicine, calls for novel techniques allowing for fast and sensitive analysis of minute samples. Here we present nanomechanical IR spectroscopy (NAM-IR) for chemical analysis of picograms of ENMs. ENMs are nebulized directly from dispersion and efficiently collected on nanomechanical string resonators through a non-diffusion limited sampling method. Even very small amounts of sample can convert absorbed IR light into a measurable frequency detuning of the string through photothermal heating. An IR absorption spectrum is thus readily obtained by recording this detuning of the resonator over a range of IR wavelengths. Results recorded using NAM-IR agree well with corresponding results obtained through ATR-FTIR, and remarkably, measurement including sample preparation takes only a few minutes, compared to ∼2 days sample preparation for ATR-FTIR. Resonator dimensions play an important role in NAM-IR, a relationship which will be elaborated here

In vivo toxicity of cationic micelles and liposomes

AbstractThis study investigated toxicity of nanocarriers comprised of cationic polymer and lipid components often used in gene and drug delivery, formulated as cationic micelles and liposomes. Rats were injected intravenously with 10, 25 or 100mg/kg and sacrificed after 24 or 48h, or 24h after the last of three intravenous injections of 100mg/kg every other day. Histological evaluation of liver, lung and spleen, clinical chemistry parameters, and hematology indicated little effect of treatment. DNA strand breaks were increased in the lung and spleen. Further, in the dose response study we found unaltered expression levels of genes in the antioxidant response (HMOX1) and repair of oxidized nucleobases (OGG1), whereas expression levels of cytokines (IL6, CXCL2 and CCL2) were elevated in lung, spleen or liver. The results indicate that assessment of genotoxicity and gene expression add information on toxicity of nanocarriers, which is not obtained by histology and hematology.From the Clinical EditorThis study investigates the toxicity of cationic micelles and liposomes utilized as nanocarriers in gene and drug delivery, demonstrating its effects on the lungs, spleen and liver