ABSTRACT
The toxicity of nanomaterials in red blood cells (RBCs) is of great interest, as RBCs are important in transporting oxygen in blood circulation. Investigations are being done for the size-dependent toxicity of well-known semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) and have revealed the exact toxic mechanism at the molecular level by confocal microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy techniques. The QDs bind to the RBCs membranes and cause the structural changes of lipid and protein in RBCs. But only the red-emitting QDs cause the breakage of the phosphodiester bond, which may cause the heavy hemolysis. The cell membrane-coated nanoparticle (NP) provides biomimetic platform which consist of a nanoparticulate core coated with membrane, which are derived from a cell, such as a RBC, platelet, or cancer cell. The cell membrane allows the particles to be perceived by the body as the source cell through interacting them with its surroundings using the translocate surface membrane components. The newly bestowed characteristics of the membrane-coated NP and can be utilized for biological interfacing in the body, providing natural solutions to many biomedical issues.
