Nanotechnology based on fluorescent silica for biomedical diagnosis

MARIELA A. AGOTEGARAY

Mar del Plata

Congreso; LXIII Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Clínica; 2018

In the last decade, the trend of biomedical and pharmacological applications of nanotechnology points to the development of integral nanosystems, not only as carriers but also as diagnostic agents. This conception emerges as theranostics. Luminescent nanomaterials based on silica find applications as theranostic agents in biomedicine. This project is devoted to the design, synthesis and physicochemical characterization of fluorescent amorphous silica nanoparticles. They are intended, in general, to diagnosis as platforms for flow cytometry and, in special, for the treatment of bone disease. Nanoparticulate silicon dioxide, SiO2, material known as "silica" has certain properties that make it a good candidate as a biomaterial: it has a very labile surface for functionalization, ease of synthesis and biocompatibility. The silica in the form of nanoparticles has been postulated as a bioactive material and beneficial for bone. The bone system is the target of therapeutic choice considering that all the associated pathologies (inflammatory, infectious and oncological) are diseases with high social impact and that lead to a low quality of life in patients who suffer them. In this way, the development of fluorescent silica nanoparticles as a platform for the anchoring of drugs for the treatment of bone pathologies represents a promising nanotechnological tool for the diagnosis by flow cytometry, treatment and monitoring of the evolution of the pathologies to be treated.