INVESTIGATING BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF NANOPARTICLES WITH 3-DIMENSIONAL CELL MODELS

Abstract

WHILE NANOTECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT HAS GROWN BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS, THE DEPTH OF UNDERSTANDING OF THE BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ENGINEERED NANOMATERIALS (NM) CONTINUED TO PLAY CATCH UP. CURRENT MECHANISTIC KNOWLEDGE OF ENGINEERED NM ON CELLULAR PHYSIOLOGY IS MOSTLY DERIVED FROM IN VITRO STUDY USING 2-DIMENSIONAL (2D) CELL CULTURE MODEL. CONVENTIONAL 2D CELL CULTURE MODEL, ALSO KNOWN AS MONOLAYER CELL CULTURE, IS A SIMPLIFIED IN VITRO CELL MODEL THAT CAN BE EASILY ESTABLISHED IN STANDARD BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY SETUP; HOWEVER, THE CELLS IN THIS MODEL HAVE A VERY LIMITED ANATOMICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL RELEVANCE OF THE REAL TISSUE. AS A RESULT OF LACKING THESE PARAMOUNT CHARACTERISTICS OF A TISSUE, 2D CELL CULTURE FAILS TO REFLECT THE REAL CONTEXT AND THEREFORE THE TISSUE?S ACTUAL BIOLOGICAL RESPONSE TO A TREATMENT. THIS STUDY AIMED TO IMPROVE THE TISSUE-MIMICRY OF IN VITRO MODEL FOR NANOTOXICITY STUDY TO MORE ACCURATELY PREDICT THE BIOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS AND THE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS OF NM TO BIOL