NQPI Nanoforum | Interactions of Engineered Nanomaterials with the Cell Plasma Membrane, Dec. 3

Saeed Nazemidashtarjandi

The Ohio University NQPI Nanoforum presents Saeed Nazemidashtarjandi discussing “Interactions of Engineered Nanomaterials with the Cell Plasma Membrane” on Thursday, Dec 3, at 4:10 p.m. via Microsoft Teams.

Santos is a graduate student in the Russ College of Engineering and the Nanoscale Quantum Phenomena Institute (NQPI).

Abstract:  The increasing use of nanomaterials in industrial and biomedical research has led to concerns regarding their toxicity to mammalian cells. The plasma membrane, a lipid bilayer separating all cells from the outer environment, is the first cellular entity that comes into contact with nanomaterials. Nanoparticle-induced plasma membrane damage is one of the primary mechanisms by which nanomaterials induce cell toxicity. Given the complexity of the plasma membrane, fundamental studies on the mechanisms of cell membrane damage by nanomaterials have generally focused on membrane models. However, such studies have generally focused on the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles and little is known about the role of lipid chemical structure in regulating nanoparticle-membrane interactions. Such knowledge is important because the cell plasma membrane includes a diverse array of lipid species and its composition can change from one cell to another.