Biological impact of nanodiamond particles - label free, high-resolution methods for nanotoxicity assessment.

Current methods for the assessment of nanoparticle safety that are based on 2D cell culture models and fluorescence-based assays show limited sensitivity and they lack biomimicry. Consequently, the health risks associated with the use of many nanoparticles have not yet been established. There is a need to develop models that mimic physiology more accurately and enable high throughput assessment.

Biospectroscopy of Nanodiamond-Induced Alterations in Conformation of Intra- and Extracellular Proteins: A Nanoscale IR Study.

The toxicity of nanomaterials raises major concerns because of the impact that nanomaterials may have on health, which remains poorly understood. We need to explore the fate of individual nanoparticles in cells at nano and molecular levels to establish their safety. Conformational changes in secondary protein structures are one of the main indicators of impaired biological function, and hence, the ability to identify these changes at a nanoscale level offers unique insights into the nanotoxicity of materials.

Dose enhancement and cytotoxicity of gold nanoparticles in colon cancer cells when irradiated with kilo- and mega-voltage radiation.

Despite major advances in the field of radiotherapy, healthy tissue damage continues to constrain the dose that can be prescribed in cancer therapy. Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have been proposed as a solution to minimize radiation-associated toxicities by enhancing the radiation dose delivered locally to tumor cells. In the current study, we investigated the application of third-generation GNPs in two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures and whether there is synergy between the nanoparticles and kilo- or mega-voltage radiation to cause augmented cytotoxicity.

Lorentz contact resonance spectroscopy for nanoscale characterisation of structural and mechanical properties of biological, dental and pharmaceutical materials.

Scanning probe microscopy has been widely used to obtain topographical information and to quantify nanostructural properties of different materials. Qualitative and quantitative imaging is of particular interest to study material-material interactions and map surface properties on a nanoscale (i.e.