Nanoparticles: from safe-by-design to toxic-by-design

The clinical use of nanomaterials is gradually increasing, but despite the high impact in preclinical studies, clinical translation remains somewhat limited due to uncertainties regarding the safe use of nanomaterials. Here, we will highlight the use of high-throughput screening methods and automated data analysis for obtaining more information on which nanomaterial parameters can influence cellular wellbeing. Secondly we will discuss some mechanisms that are involved in potential nanomaterial toxicity and how these can be avoided to generate safe-by-design nanoparticles. Thirdly, we will focus on the mechanistic understanding of how nanomaterials can affect cells and whether this can be exploited to highlight differences between normal and malignant (cancerous cell types). We will demonstrate the latter by recent work focusing on the degradation of metal oxide nanoparticles and its potential in cancer therapy.