The Interactions Between Engineered Nanomaterials and Biomolecules

Abstract

With the development and wide applications of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs), their impacts on human health have received increasing concerns. ENMs can enter human body through respiratory pathway, digestive tract, skin penetration, intravenous injection, and implantation, and then they are carried to distal organs via bloodstream and lymphatic functions to perturb physiological systems. It is very important to investigate the interactions between ENMs and biomolecules (the basic building blocks of the human body) such as phospholipid, protein, DNA, and some other small biological molecules. The chapter intends to discuss the chemical basis of interactions between ENMs and biomolecules, and the effects of the differences in surface morphology, composition, and modified groups of ENMs. The in-depth understanding of interactions between ENMs and biomolecules could lay foundations for further elucidating the effects of ENMs on human cells, organs, and physiological systems, which paves the way for human and environmental friendliness in the production and usage of ENMs.