Cytotoxicity of organically coated silicon nanoparticles
Introduction:
Organically coated Silicon core nanoparticles were synthesized in our own laboratory. In lieu to the extremely small size of the Silicon core (<2 nm) these nanoparticles it may be interesting to investigate their cytotoxic effects. Also various surface charges were conferred in a systematic basis with introduction of amine ( ), carboxylic acid (-) and azide (neutral) terminal groups. Various cytotoxicity assays had been done so far to assess their toxic effects on individual basis. Allied pertinent topics like enhancement of toxicity in presence of Fetal Calf Serum (FCS) was also investigated with initial experiments getting performed to understand the mechanism of toxicity in detail.
Goal:
The goal of this project is to assess the toxic potential of these silicon nanoparticles with better understanding on other issues like mechanism of toxicity, types of stress (like oxidative stress) posed to the cells, magnitude of health hazard and risk assessment. Implementation of higher animal models (like mice) is also a priority.
Fields of interest:
Organically coated Silicon core nanoparticles were synthesized in our own laboratory. In lieu to the extremely small size of the Silicon core (<2 nm) these nanoparticles it may be interesting to investigate their cytotoxic effects. Also various surface charges were conferred in a systematic basis with introduction of amine ( ), carboxylic acid (-) and azide (neutral) terminal groups. Various cytotoxicity assays had been done so far to assess their toxic effects on individual basis. Allied pertinent topics like enhancement of toxicity in presence of Fetal Calf Serum (FCS) was also investigated with initial experiments getting performed to understand the mechanism of toxicity in detail.
Goal:
The goal of this project is to assess the toxic potential of these silicon nanoparticles with better understanding on other issues like mechanism of toxicity, types of stress (like oxidative stress) posed to the cells, magnitude of health hazard and risk assessment. Implementation of higher animal models (like mice) is also a priority.
Fields of interest:
- Nanomaterial safety and Nanotoxicology
- Health hazard and risk assessment of nanoparticles
- Further scopes of nanoscience in bio-nano interface (like Bioimaging and targeted drug delivery)