Invited Speaker

Metal Oxide Micro and Nanoparticles for Application in Targeted Drug Delivery
Vadim G. Kessler, Gulaim A. Seisenbaeva, Robert Pazik, Sebastian Håkansson
Sweden

The advances in the controlled synthesis of nanomaterials based on biocompatible naturally occurring oxide minerals opened broad prospects for their application in biotechnology and medicine. Modern techniques of chemical synthesis permit to prepare highly morphologically uniform nanoparticles and their chemically and mechanically stable assemblies displaying specific affinity to distinct classes of biomolecules, such as aminoacids and proteins, nucleotides, DNA etc. This opens broad perspectives in specific targeting and even in general long term stabilization of the particles in body fluids and decreasing the possible immune response to them. The versatile properties of metal oxides permit also creation of materials with specific reactivity in the conditions of illness and inflammation, opening prospects of smart drug release from both nano carriers in the blood flow and even from the components in implants. Combination of drug and biodelivery, i.e. release of encapsulated cell under medically controlled conditions present new opportunities for tissue engineering. The considered examples will deal with such areas as cancer treatment, bone regeneration and the treatment of juvenile diabetes. The contribution will report the results of pre-clinical studies at both in vitro and in vivo level, using epifluorescence and radiologic techniques.