Smart Nanomaterials Targeting Pathological Hypoxia

The book showcases the newest research on smart nanoplatforms responding to “hypoxia”; an omnipresent pathological feature of many modern-day diseases and its potential applications. The book demonstrates the versatility of hypoxia targeted smart nanoplatforms in disease management in diverse pathological settings presented in chapters contributed by various experts in the field. The themes in the book touch upon critical facets to address pathological hypoxia such as nanomaterials enhancing oxygenation, hypoxia responsive nanoformulations which deliver the drug directly to the hypoxic site, limited toxicity and enhanced efficacy of smart nanoformulations to counter molecular consequences of hypoxia, and theranostics combining hypoxia detection systems with drug delivery systems. This book disseminates the current implications of smart nanomaterials in disease management that can be exploited by scholars, researchers, and pharma industries to develop, manufacture, and commercialize hypoxia targeted diagnostics and therapeutics.

The book showcases the newest research on smart nanoplatforms responding to “hypoxia”; an omnipresent pathological feature of many modern-day diseases and its potential applications. The book demonstrates the versatility of hypoxia targeted smart nanoplatforms in disease management in diverse pathological settings presented in chapters contributed by various experts in the field. The themes in the book touch upon critical facets to address pathological hypoxia such as nanomaterials enhancing oxygenation, hypoxia responsive nanoformulations which deliver the drug directly to the hypoxic site, limited toxicity and enhanced efficacy of smart nanoformulations to counter molecular consequences of hypoxia, and theranostics combining hypoxia detection systems with drug delivery systems. This book disseminates the current implications of smart nanomaterials in disease management that can be exploited by scholars, researchers, and pharma industries to develop, manufacture, and commercialize hypoxia targeted diagnostics and therapeutics.

With the start of 2020, the wrath of pandemic challenged the scientific community to develop more advanced drug delivery approaches for biomedical applications, endowing conventional drugs with additional therapeutic benefits and minimum side effects. Although significant advancements have been done in the field of drug delivery, there is a need to focus towards strategizing novel and improved drug delivery systems that should be convenient and cost-effective to the patients, and simultaneously they should also provide financial benefits to pharmaceutical companies. Controlled drug delivery technology offers ample opportunities and scope for improvising the therapeutic efficacy of drugs via optimizing the drug release rate and time. For this endeavour, smart nanomaterials have served as remarkable candidates for biomedical applications, owing to their ground-breaking properties and design. The development of such nanomaterials requires a broad knowledge related to their physio-chemical properties, molecular structure, mechanisms by which the nanomaterials interact with the cells, and methods by which drugs are released at the site of action. This knowledge must also be allied with the knowledge of signaling crosstalk mechanisms that are modulated by the nanomaterial-drugs composite. It can be anticipated that these emerging drug delivery technologies can facilitate the world to successfully encounter such pandemic outbursts in the future in a cost-effective and time-effective manner. The chapters in this book deal with the advanced technologies and approaches that can benefit advanced students, researchers, and industry experts in developing smart and intelligent nanomaterials for future biomedical applications, and development, manufacturing, and commercialization for controlled and targeted drug delivery.

The book in hand, namely “Metal and Metal-Oxide Based Nanomaterials (Synthesis, Agricultural, Biomedical and Environmental Interventions”, focuses on the synthesis methods, characterization techniques, and diverse interventions utilizing these nanomaterials in the fields of agriculture, biomedicine, and environmental remediation. The specific applications discussed include food packaging, post-harvest disease management, crop production, drug delivery systems, other biomedical applications, photocatalytic degradation of environmental pollutants, and wastewater treatment. Additionally, it also addresses the potential risks associated with zinc nanoparticles in aquatic ecosystems and emphasizes the importance of further research and regulation in this field. Overall, the book provides valuable insights and serves as a comprehensive resource for researchers and scientists across various interdisciplinary subjects. It serves as a valuable resource for scientists, researchers, and students in nanotechnology, nanomedicine, environmental science, plant science, agriculture, chemistry, biotechnology, pharmacognosy, pharmaceuticals, industrial chemistry, and other interdisciplinary subjects. Moreover, this also inspires further research, innovation, and the development of sustainable solutions for a better future.

This book highlights the recent advancement in point-of-care testing (POCT) technologies utilizing ‘smart’ nanomaterials for the analysis of biomarkers related to disease, which includes metabolites, enzymes, proteins, nucleic acids, cancer cells and multidrug-resistant pathogen. The POCT refers to medical diagnostic tests performed near the place and time of patient care. During the recent pandemic of COVID-19, many realized the importance of affordable, rapid and accurate POCT devices and their usefulness to combat the spread of the infection. The chapters in this book describe the emergence of ‘smart’ nanomaterials with unique physical and chemical properties being utilized in POCT devices for immobilizing biorecognition elements and labels for signal generation, transduction and amplification. It showcases the applications of these smart nanomaterials and their superiority in developing point-of-care diagnostics devices in a wide range of applied fields like food industry, agriculture sector, water quality assessment, pharmaceuticals and tissue engineering. It also looks into the challenges associated and future direction of research in this promising field. This book caters as reference book for researches from the field of nanobiotechnology and biomedical sciences who are interested in the development of rapid, affordable and accurate POCT devices.

Smart Nanomaterials for Bioencapsulation focuses on the fundamentals, synthesis methods and matrix design for the encapsulation of drugs, drug release, food and nutraceuticals, mechanisms of nano- encapsulated drugs on liposomes, micelles, silica composites, carbon nanotubes, dendrimers, and protein inorganic nanohybrids. Providing detailed information on the encapsulation of food and drug derivatives, the book helps create new and modern approaches for both pharmaceutical and nutritional science. The target delivery of pharmacological agents, as well as food additives under various conditions is covered, including sections on systemic release of drug molecules, minimum loss at non-target sites, the accumulation of diseased tissue or organs, and more. Smart nanomaterial-based nanocarriers protect the loaded molecules from premature degradation in the biological environment and enhance bioavailability for cellular uptake. The tuned properties of smart nanomaterials, such as porosity, pore-volume, surface area-to-volume ratio, coating with inert and labile materials, and more help determine the in vivo performance of the bioencapsulated food and drug derivatives. Outlines the major design principles surrounding the encapsulation of drugs, drug release, food and nutraceuticals at the nanoscale Discusses the pros and cons of different bioencapsulation methods for different application areas Outlines the major challenges of applying nanobioencapsulation at an industrial scale