Nanosurface chemistry and dose govern the bioaccumulation and toxicity of carbon nanotubes, metal nanomaterials and quantum dots in vivo

Abstract The chemical and biological mechanisms of life processes mostly consist of multistep and programmed processes at nanoscale levels. Interestingly enough, cell, the basic functional unit and platform that maintains life processes, is composed of various organelles fulfilling sophisticated functions through the precise control on the biomolecules (e.g., proteins, phospholipid, nucleic acid and ions) in a spatial dimension of nanoscale sizes. Thus, understanding of the activities of manufactured nanoscale materials including their interaction with biological systems is of great significance in chemistry, materials science, life science, medicine, environmental science and toxicology. In this brief review, we summarized the recent advances in nanotoxicological chemistry through the dissection of pivotal factors (primarily focusing on dose and nanosurface chemistry) in determining nanomaterial-induced biological/toxic responses with particular emphasis on the nanomaterial bioaccumulation (and interaction organs or target organs) at intact animal level. Due to the volume of manufacture and material application, we deliberately discussed carbon nanotubes, metal/metal oxide nanomaterials and quantum dots, severing as representative material types to illustrate the impact of dose and nanosurface chemistry in these toxicological scenarios. Finally, we have also delineated the grand challenges in this field in a conceptual framework of nanotoxicological chemistry. It is noted that this review is a part of our persistent endeavor of building the systematic knowledge framework for toxicological properties of engineered nanomaterials.摘要生命过程是由一系列发生在纳米尺度上的程序化、多级次、多步骤的化学、物理或生物学过程组成。有趣的是,在构成细胞的亚细胞器中或它们之间发生的这些复杂的过程,很多需要对生物分子(如蛋白质、核酸等)进行纳米尺度空间上的精确调控,以维持生命过程的正常进行。因此,理解在纳米尺度下物质与生命体系的相互作用,对生命科学与纳米科学、化学、材料科学、医学、环境健康科学和毒理学等领域的交叉和融合,将提供独特的视点和启迪。本文从纳米化学的角度,系统归纳影响纳米材料在体内的生物蓄积、作用器官(或靶器官)和体内毒性的关键因素,主要集中在纳米表面化学修饰和剂量效应。由于已有的纳米材料很多,我们在此重点分析了纳米碳管、金属相关(金属和金属氧化物)纳米材料以及量子点在生物体内的蓄积规律、作用器官选择性及其体内毒理;它们的剂量效应;以及纳米表面化学修饰对其体内蓄积规律、作用器官选择性及其体内毒理的调控作用。最后,我们从纳米化学的角度讨论这个领域具有挑战性的科学问题以及建立概念性知识框架尚需要深入研究的方向。这篇综述是我们将纳米毒理学领域的知识系统化的持续努力的一部分。