Recent investigations on the potential use of nanomaterials for medical applications increase the need for toxicological assessment of tissues other than the lung. Injection of nanoparticles as a contrast agent or for drug delivery to specific organs/tissue is or will be soon applied in daily therapy.

One field of research interest focuses on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as promising candidates for neuro-medical applications such as neuronal prosthetics or as molecular drug delivery systems across the blood brain barrier.
Up to now there is only little knowledge about possible uptake mechanisms in neural cell systems as well as about neurotoxic effects of CNTs. Therefore, we study the influence of single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs) on primary mixed neuron-glia cultures and additionally aim for a detailed analysis on the uptake of SWCNTs into these cell types. We isolate primary cultures from embryonic chicken ventral spinal cord or dorsal root ganglia (DRG) to be able to differentiate between effects on central nervous system neurons or sensory neurons, respectively.

The ‘NANOMMUNE’ project is part of the European 7th framework programme. Here we collaborate with several international research groups for the comprehensive assessment of hazardous effects of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) on the immune system. Our studies will address the uptake of ENM and closely related endpoints to immunological responses, such as the production of cytokines and reactive oxygen species. Additionally, we will investigate the pathways of cell death using genetically modified cell lines.

In Collaboration with the University Hospital Zurich, Laboratory for Perinatal Pharmacology, we address how far the human placenta may act as a barrier for engineered nanomaterials. In this particular study we are interested in the pharmacological and toxicological aspects. With special techniques (fluorescent nanoparticles and/or electron microscopy) we analyse the transfer of nanoparticle across the placenta barrier.