Predictive toxicological paradigm and high throughput approach for toxicity screening of engineered nanomaterials

Abstract

Nanotechnology is developing rapidly and numerous engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) with various design strategies have been produced and used in commercial products that affect many aspects of life. This increases the potential of human and environmental exposure to nanomaterials and there is an urgent need to have a platform to investigate the potential adverse effects of these materials. We propose a predictive toxicological paradigm that utilises high throughput mechanism-based in vitro screening to make predictions about the physicochemical properties of ENMs that may lead to generation of pathology or disease outcomes in vivo. In this review, we describe the tools required for establishing predictive toxicology paradigms together with examples of successful approaches in the UC Centre of Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (UC CEIN) and the UCLA Centre for Nanobiology and Predictive Toxicology (CNPT).