The recent advances in nanotechnology and the corresponding increase in the use of nanomaterials in products in every sector of society have resulted in uncertainties regarding environmental impacts. The objectives of this review are to introduce the key aspects pertaining to nanomaterials in the environment and to discuss what is known concerning their fate, behavior, disposition, and toxicity, with a particular focus on those that make up manufactured nanomaterials. This review critiques existing nanomaterial research in freshwater, marine, and soil environments. It illustrates the paucity of existing research and demonstrates the need for additional research. Environmental scientists are encouraged to base this research on existing studies on colloidal behavior and toxicology. The need for standard reference and testing materials as well as methodology for suspension preparation and testing is also discussed.

Nanomaterials in the environment: Behavior, fate, bioavailability, and effects

"Nanoantibiotics": a new paradigm for treating infectious diseases using nanomaterials in the antibiotics resistant era.

Although progress has recently been made toward understanding the health and environmental consequences of these materials, challenges ramain for future research.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/es062726m

Assessing the risks of manufactured nanomaterials.

Fullerenes have attracted considerable attention in different fields of science since their discovery in 1985. Investigations of physical, chemical and biological properties of fullerenes have yielded promising information. It is inferred that size, hydrophobicity, three-dimensionality and electronic configurations make them an appealing subject in medicinal chemistry. Their unique carbon cage structure coupled with immense scope for derivatization make them a potential therapeutic agent. The study of biological applications has attracted increasing attention despite the low solubility of carbon spheres in physiological media. The fullerene family, and especially C60, has appealing photo, electrochemical and physical properties, which can be exploited in various medical fields. Fullerene is able to fit inside the hydrophobic cavity of HIV proteases, inhibiting the access of substrates to the catalytic site of enzyme. It can be used as radical scavenger and antioxidant. At the same time, if exposed to light, fullerene can produce singlet oxygen in high quantum yields. This action, together with direct electron transfer from excited state of fullerene and DNA bases, can be used to cleave DNA. In addition, fullerenes have been used as a carrier for gene and drug delivery systems. Also they are used for serum protein profiling as MELDI material for biomarker discovery. In this review we report the aspects of medicinal applications of fullerenes.

Medicinal applications of fullerenes.

Fullerene research in biological systems has been hindered by the compound's relative insolubility in water. However, C60 molecules can be made to aggregate, forming stable fullerene water suspensions (FWS) whose properties differ from those of bulk solid C60. There are many different protocols for making FWS. This paper explores four of these methods and establishes the antibacterial activity of each resulting suspension, including a suspension made without intermediary solvents. The aggregates in each polydisperse suspension were separated by size using differential centrifugation and tested for antibacterial activity using Bacillus subtilis as a test organism. All suspensions exhibited relatively strong antibacterial activity. Fractions containing smaller aggregates had greater antibacterial activity, although the increase in toxicity was disproportionately higher than the associated increase in putative surface area. This suggests the need for improved understanding of the behavior of FWS towards orga...

Antibacterial Activity of Fullerene Water Suspensions: Effects of Preparation Method and Particle Size†

Human immunodeficiency virus-reverse transcriptase inhibition and hepatitis C virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase inhibition activities of fullerene derivatives.

Antibacterial and antiproliferative activity of cationic fullerene derivatives.

We examined the human immunodeficiency virus-reverse transcriptase and hepatitis C virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase inhibition activities of cationic, anionic, and amino acid-type fullerene derivatives. Among the fullerene derivatives, the amino acid-type fullerene derivative was the most efficient in human immunodeficiency virus-reverse transcriptase inhibition.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Reverse Transcriptase Inhibition and Hepatitis C Virus RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase Inhibition Activities of Fullerene Derivatives.

We examined the antibacterial and antiproliferative activities of alkylated C(60)-bis(N,N-dimethylpyrrolidinium iodide) derivatives. The fullerene derivatives inhibited bacteria and cancer cell growth effectively. However, the fullerene derivatives with a long alkyl chain did not show antibacterial activity.

Dai Nishikawa

Papers

Human immunodeficiency virus-reverse transcriptase inhibition and hepatitis C virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase inhibition activities of fullerene derivatives.

Antibacterial and antiproliferative activity of cationic fullerene derivatives.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Reverse Transcriptase Inhibition and Hepatitis C Virus RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase Inhibition Activities of Fullerene Derivatives.

Antibacterial and Antiproliferative Activity of Cationic Fullerene Derivatives.