This book provides comprehensive coverage of smart biomaterials and their potential applications, a field that is developing at a very rapid pace. Because smart biomaterials are an emerging class of biomaterials that respond to small changes in external stimuli with large discontinuous changes in their physical properties, they have been designed to act as an “on–off” switch for, among others, bio separation, immunoanalysis, drug delivery technologies, gene therapy, diagnostics, bio sensor...

Mechanobiology is a new research field that investigates how the physical forces and changes in mechanical properties of cells and tissues contribute to their development, physiology and disease. One unique feature in the mechanical regulation, distinct from chemical/biochemical one, is that it can directly react with the multi-layered architectures of living systems, ranging from nano-scale proteins, subcellular organelles, cells, tissues, organs to whole bodies; one could term it “mechan...

In her thesis, Sara Bobone outlines spectroscopic studies of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) which are promising lead compounds for drugs used to fight multidrug resistant bacteria. Bobone shows that AMPs interact with liposomes and she clarifies the structure of pores formed by one of these molecules. These results help us to understand how AMPs are selective for bacterial membranes and how their activity can be finely tuned by modifying their sequence. Findings which solve several conundru...

This book is a compilation of summarized analytical methods designed to serve the needs of pharmacologists, toxicologists, and other allied health professionals involved the development, use, or monitoring of pharmaceuticals. The summaries are structured monographs on 511 different drug entities detailing 964 different analytical methods, providing the reader with a thorough description of method validation. These analytical methods include not only high performance liquid chromatography (...

Nanomedicine can take advantage of the recent developments in nanobiotechnology research for the creation of platforms with superior drug carrier capabilities, selective responsiveness to the environment, unique contrast enhancement profiles, and improved accumulation at the disease site. This book provides a broad glimpse of how various dendritic nanomaterials have been designed and used as efficient tools for nanomedicine. It comprises a pedagogic introduction to dendrimers and hyperbran...

This book offers readers an introduction to the current status of nanoparticles and other nanomaterials that have potential applications in theranostics. Above all, it highlights the diagnostic and therapeutic applications of metallic (e.g. Au, Ag), semiconducting quantum dots (e.g. CdSe, CdTe), magnetic (e.g. Fe3O4, FePt, Co), and multifunctional (combination of two or three) nanoparticles.

In this monograph, the importance of fluctuations for biological reactions is discussed from various points of view. Understanding the biological reactions at the molecular level is one of the major targets in many scientific fields, including not only basic biology but also physics, physical chemistry, and medical science. One of the key factors in the process is “fluctuation”. Thermal energy causes biological molecules to be in constant fluctuation even while they are carrying out their ...

Hydrogels are networks of polymer chains which can produce a colloidal gel containing over 99 per cent water. The superabsorbency and permeability of naturally occurring and synthetic hydrogels give this class of materials an amazing array of uses. These uses range from wound dressings and skin grafts to oxygen-permeable contact lenses to biodegradable delivery systems for drugs or pesticides and scaffolds for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Biomedical Applications of Hyd...

This text book will bring together a mix of both internationally known and established senior scientists along side up and coming (but already accomplished) junior scientists that have varying expertise in fundamental and applied nanotechnology to biology and medicine.

At the interface of biology, chemistry, and materials science, this book provides an overview of this vibrant research field, treating the seemingly distinct disciplines in a unified way by adopting the common viewpoint of surface science.The editors, themselves prolific researchers, have assembled here a team of top-notch international scientists who read like a "who's who" of biomaterials science and engineering. They cover topics ranging from micro- and nanostructuring for impart...

This reference/text addresses concepts and synthetic techniques for the preparation of polymers for state-of-the-art use in biomedicine, synthetic biology, and bionanotechnology.

Biomaterials Nanoarchitectonics, written from the perspectives of authors form NIMS and other researchers worldwide, provides readers with an explanation of the theory and techniques of nanoarchitectonics, exploring its applications in biomedical fields, including regenerative medicine, drug delivery, and diagnostic and treatment systems based on pathogenic mechanisms. The book also explains the use of nanomaterials that enable 'materials therapy', in which the materials themselves elicit ...