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Biomedical applications of nanotechnology

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Abstract

The ability to investigate substances at the molecular level has boosted the search for materials with outstanding properties for use in medicine. The application of these novel materials has generated the new research field of nanobiotechnology, which plays a central role in disease diagnosis, drug design and delivery, and implants. In this review, we provide an overview of the use of metallic and metal oxide nanoparticles, carbon-nanotubes, liposomes, and nanopatterned flat surfaces for specific biomedical applications. The chemical and physical properties of the surface of these materials allow their use in diagnosis, biosensing and bioimaging devices, drug delivery systems, and bone substitute implants. The toxicology of these particles is also discussed in the light of a new field referred to as nanotoxicology that studies the surface effects emerging from nanostructured materials.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP—grant 2013/12615-0, 2014/11941-3, 2014/24249-0, 2012/20946-3 and 2015/08774-0) and the National Council of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq- grant 44283412014-4) for financial support. Camila B. Tovani and Marcos A. E. Cruz thank FAPESP for the PhD and MSc scholarships, respectively. Ana P. Ramos and Pietro Ciancaglini are CNPq researchers.

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Correspondence to Ana P. Ramos.

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Ana P. Ramos declares that she has no conflicts of interest. Marcos A.E. Cruz declares that he has no conflicts of interest. Camila B. Tovani declares that she has no conflicts of interest. Pietro Ciancaglini declares that he has no conflicts of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Ramos, A.P., Cruz, M.A.E., Tovani, C.B. et al. Biomedical applications of nanotechnology. Biophys Rev 9, 79–89 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12551-016-0246-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12551-016-0246-2

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