Abstract
Nanomaterials have become increasingly important in medicine, manufacturing, and consumer products. The fundamental understanding in effects of nanoparticles (NPs) on and their interactions with biomolecules and organismal systems have yet to be achieved. In this chapter, we firstly provide a brief review of the interactions between nanoparticles and biological systems. We will then provide an example by describing a novel method to assess the effects of NPs on biological systems, using insects as a model. Nanoparticles were injected into the central nervous system of the discoid cockroach (Blaberus discoidalis). It was found that insects became hyperactive compared to negative control (water injections). Our method could provide a generic method of assessing nanoparticles toxicity.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Lewis LN (1993) Chemical catalysis by colloids and clusters. Chem Rev 93:2693–2730
Alivisatos AP (1996) Semiconductor clusters, nanocrystals, and quantum dots. Science 271:933–937
Henglein A (1989) Small-particle research: physicochemical properties of extremely small colloidal metal and semiconductor particles. Chem Rev 89:1861–1873
Taton T, Mirkin C, Letsinger R (2000) Scanometric DNA array detection with nanoparticle probes. Science 289:1757
Cao Y, Jin R, Mirkin C (2002) Nanoparticles with Raman spectroscopic fingerprints for DNA and RNA detection. Science 297:1536
Sandhu K, McIntosh C, Simard J, Smith S, Rotello V (2002) Gold nanoparticle-mediated transfection of mammalian cells. Bioconjug Chem 13:3–6
Loo C, Lowery A, Halas N, West J, Drezek R (2005) Immunotargeted nanoshells for integrated cancer imaging and therapy. Nano Lett 5:709–711
Menjoge AR, Kannan RM, Tomalia DA (2010) Dendrimer-based drug and imaging conjugates: design considerations for nanomedical applications. Drug Discov Today 15:171–185
Ashcroft JM, Tsyboulski DA, Hartman KB, Zakharian TY, Marks JW, Weisman RB, Rosenblum MG, Wilson LJ (2006) Fullerene (C60) immunoconjugates: interaction of water-soluble C60 derivatives with the murine anti-gp240 melanoma antibody. Chem Commun (Camb) 28:3004–3006
Bianco A, Kostarelos K, Prato M (2005) Applications of carbon nanotubes in drug delivery. Curr Opin Chem Biol 9:674–679
Cho K, Wang X, Nie S, Chen ZG, Shin DM (2008) Therapeutic nanoparticles for drug delivery in cancer. Clin Cancer Res 14:1310
Bhavane R, Karathanasis E, Annapragada AV (2007) Triggered release of ciprofloxacin from nanostructured agglomerated vesicles. Int J Nanomedicine 2:407
Choi UB, Strop P, Vrljic M, Chu S, Brunger AT, Weninger KR (2010) Single-molecule FRET-derived model of the synaptotagmin 1-SNARE fusion complex. Nat Struct Mol Biol 17:318–324
Gupta AK, Gupta M (2005) Synthesis and surface engineering of iron oxide nanoparticles for biomedical applications. Biomaterials 26:3995–4021
Kirschvink J, Padmanabha S, Boyce C, Oglesby J (1997) Measurement of the threshold sensitivity of honeybees to weak, extremely low-frequency magnetic fields. J Exp Biol 200:1363
Kirschvink JL, Kirschvink AK (1991) Is geomagnetic sensitivity real? replication of the Walker-Bitterman magnetic conditioning experiment in honey bees. Am Zool 31:169
Walker MM, Bitterman M (1989) Short communication honeybees can be trained to respond to very small changes in geomagnetic field intensity. J Exp Biol 145:489
Phillips J, Sayeed O (1993) Wavelength-dependent effects of light on magnetic compass orientation in Drosophila melanogaster. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 172:303–308
Vácha M (2006) Laboratory behavioural assay of insect magnetoreception: magnetosensitivity of Periplaneta americana. J Exp Biol 209:3882
Vácha M, Puzová T, Kvícalová M (2009) Radio frequency magnetic fields disrupt magnetoreception in American cockroach. J Exp Biol 212:3473
Wajnberg E, Acosta-Avalos D, Alves OC, de Oliveira JF, Srygley RB, Esquivel D (2010) Magnetoreception in eusocial insects: an update. J R Soc Interface 7:S207
Abraçado L, Esquivel D, Wajnberg E (2008) Oriented magnetic material in head and antennae of Solenopsis interrupta ant. J Magn Magn Mater 320:e204–e206
De Oliveira JF, Wajnberg E, de Souza Esquivel DM, Weinkauf S, Winklhofer M, Hanzlik M (2010) Ant antennae: are they sites for magnetoreception? J R Soc Interface 7:143
Rocha A, Zhou Y, Kundu S, González JM, BradleighVinson S, Liang H (2011) In vivo observation of gold nanoparticles in the central nervous system of Blaberus discoidalis. J Nanobiotechnol 9:5
Acknowledgments
This work was partially sponsored by the National Science Foundation (0515930), Texas Engineering Experimental Station, and the Texas A&M University. Assistance provided by Drs. Brad Vinson, Jorge Gonzelez, and Subrata Kundu was greatly appreciated.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Zhou, Y., Rocha, A., Sanchez, C.J., Liang, H. (2012). Assessment of Toxicity of Nanoparticles Using Insects as Biological Models. In: Soloviev, M. (eds) Nanoparticles in Biology and Medicine. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 906. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-953-2_35
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-953-2_35
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
Print ISBN: 978-1-61779-952-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-61779-953-2
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols