Nanotecnología, nanomedicina, cáncer y diabetes

Abstract

Biomedical sciences look towards nanotechnology for new options of treatments and diagnostic tools. Recent technological advances make it possible to study the mechanics of living biological material and its relation to biological or molecular processes.

One of the lines of research developed in our laboratory has as objective to study the effect that different pathologies have in the cellular nanomechanics. In particular, using nanotechnological tools such as the atomic force microscope, we have found that cell stiffness is modified in the case of neuroblastoma or diabetic cardiomyopathy. In addition, we have found that in both cases the modification of cell stiffness is associated with alterations of the cytoskeleton. A better understanding of the molecular mechanisms responsible for these alterations will allow the development of new and increasingly specialized therapies.