title: Knocking at the door of the unborn child: engineered nanoparticles at the human placental barrier.
abstract: Exposure of pregnant women and their unborn children to engineered nanoparticles (NPs) is not yet of major public concern. However, this may soon change in light of the ever-increasing production of NPs and the continuous appearance of novel NP-containing consumer products. However, NPs may not only pose risks to exposed individuals; they offer major potential for the development of novel therapeutic strategies to treat specifically either the mother or the developing foetus. Hence there is every reason to explore the transplacental transfer of engineered NPs in more detail, and to find answers to the vast number of open questions in this fascinating field of research.
authors.affiliation: EMPA Swiss Federal Laboratories for Material Testing and Research, Laboratory for Materials - Biology Interaction, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Buerki-Thurnherr
authors.forename: Ursula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: von Mandach
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wick
mesh_terms: D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010920:Placenta; D011247:Pregnancy