Current situation on the availability of nanostructure–biological activity data

Abstract

Recent developments in nanotechnology have not only increased the number of nanoproducts on the market, but also raised concerns about the safety of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) for human health and the environment. As the production and use of ENMs increase, we are approaching the point at which it is impossible to individually assess the toxicity of a vast number of ENMs. Therefore, it is desirable to use time-effective computational methods, such as the quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) models, to predict the toxicity of ENMs. However, the accuracy of the nano-(Q)SARs is directly tied to the quality of the data from which the model is estimated. Although the amount of available nanotoxicity data is insufficient for generating robust nano-(Q)SAR models in most cases, there are a handful of studies that provide appropriate experimental data for (Q)SAR-like modelling investigations. The aim of this study is to review the available literature data that are particularly suitable for nano-(Q)SAR modelling. We hope that this paper can serve as a starting point for those who would like to know more about the current availability of experimental data on the health effects of ENMs for future modelling purposes.

Keywords:

• nanomaterials
• nanotoxicity
• nano-SAR
• nano-(Q)SAR
• in silico

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge financial supports from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) (Projects: 236215 MARINA – MAnaging RIsks of NAnomaterials, FP7-NMP.2010.1.3-1; and 604305 SUN- Sustainable Nanotechnologies FP7-NMP-2013-LARGE-7) and the UK ’Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) (Project: 17857 Development and Evaluation of (Q)SAR Tools for Hazard Assessment and Risk Management of Manufactured Nanoparticles) in support of EU FP7 project entitled NANoREG A Common European Approach to the Regulatory Testing of Nanomaterials, FP7-NMP-2012-LARGE-6.