ИСТИНА

In the present day medicine intense work is performed to study the properties of nanoparticles, aimed at their further use in the diagnostics and treatment of widespread diseases, including the oncologic ones. Among the substances that may be used for these purposes special attention is paid to silicon. The synthesis of biologically active nanocomposite silicon-based materials gave an impetus to numerous studies of this element aimed at its use for the treatment and diagnostics of different diseases. Particularly, it was found that, owing to their biological compatibility with living tissues and ability of fast removal from the organism, the silicon nanoparticles may be used as photosensitisers in photodynamic therapy of cancer. Photosensitisers should be low-toxic, possess homogeneous and stable structure, and, above all, exhibit high selectivity of accumulation in tumours, combined with fast removal from the organism. Therefore, it is of primary importance to study the interaction of silicon nanoparticles with the basic proteins of the blood serum, especially with albumin. These studies may be performed using the methods of light scattering and infrared spectroscopy. We investigate three systems: 'water + protein',`water + silicon' and 'water + silicon nanoparticles + protein'. The difference in the light scattering parameters and comparisson of IR spectra and zeta-potential allow us to detect the presence or absence of aggregates, i.e., nanoclusters. They can arise as a result of interaction of albumin macromolecules and silicon nanoparticles.