Nanostability

Abstract

Stability of nano-objects should be considered in both ways such as static and dynamic, both directly related to their applications and uses. It can be determined by their physicochemical properties and by the interactions and their effects in a cell, tissue, organ, and/or physiology and structure of an entire organism. Nanotoxicity of a single nanospecies involves not only the interaction of that species but also the interaction of its nanomaterial components with biological systems. In order to analyze the whole picture, studies of nanotoxicity in vitro and in vivo related with the stability are a must. After the physicochemical characteristics of the nano-object, the first relevant factor dictating cellular fate is the size and the second is the surface charge. Other factors as the presence of ``bioactive{''} molecules (e.g., surfactants), surface area, shape, chemistry, crystalline structure, aspect ratio, dimensionality, agglomeration, concentration, and dose are discussed in the present work. The size, structure of nanoparticles (NPs) and their surface characteristics are relevant for protein and other molecules interactions. The binding of NPs with serum proteins influences their biodisponibility, clearance, and toxicity. In addition to traditional methods as optical spectroscopic techniques to perform structural studies, the need of better mechanistic understanding of toxicological pathways is urgent. In this sense, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics generically called omics technologies provide a valuable opportunity to refine existing methods and provide information for the so-called integrated testing strategies to study the pathways of toxicity (PoT). Therefore, static and dynamic stability will be taken into account in the future toxicological studies in nanobiotechnology.