ИСТИНА

Laser-based techniques play an increasingly important role in all fields of biophotonics, in particular, in modification and diagnosis of biological objects of different complexity levels. With fast growing potential and extensive applications of nanotechnology products, nanoparticles, in the biomedical and environmental fields, the issues of “biotoxicity” and “biosafety” have faced the researchers. During the last decade carbon based nanoparticles (nanodiamonds, carbon nanotubes and fullerenes) attract more and more attention due to their intrinsic properties of nontoxicity and biocompatibility. However possible effects of these nanoparticles on biological structures starting from molecular and cellular levels, including blood components, have been fully assessed so far. Complex in vitro studies of various effects of nanodiamonds on blood components have already been performed only by us in the frames of our collaborative project. In particular, the adsorption of such blood plasma proteins as albumin and γ-globulin on diamond nanoparticles of size around 5 and 100 nm was observed and studied using laser-optical methods. We observed variations in the FTIR spectra of proteins due to structural transformations of the adsorbed protein and showed that the protein adsorption leading to observable changes in the FTIR spectrum also induces a significant decrease in the protein functional activity. We also found that the influence of ∼5-nm nanodiamonds on the protein structure and functions is more significant than that of ∼100-nm nanodiamonds. However the in vitro conditions are more or less artificial: they just mimic but not reproduce the in vivo conditions. So one may judge the functional value of the effects or mechanisms found in vitro only in the case that they are confirmed in in vivo experiments. Here we report on the latest results of our joint research, which combines our in vitro and in vivo expertise in cellular and in whole blood and animal models using state of the art laser methods and instruments.