Nanoparticles could act as carriers through the body, for example, transporting chemotherapy drugs across the blood-brain barrier into the brain, where they can then attack the brain tumor. To achieve this, researchers first need to understand how these nanoparticles distribute themselves within the body and reach the target organ without causing harm. Until now, mice have been used for this purpose, which is not only labor-intensive, time-consuming, and expensive, but also problematic from an ethical standpoint.

For this reason, Jimeng Wu, a doctoral student at EMPA under the supervision of Prof. Peter Wick and Prof. Bernd Nowack, has developed a pharmacokinetic model (PBPK model) based on data from previous mouse studies. This model allows such tests to be conducted much more quickly.

Original publication:
Wu J, Wick P, Nowack B. Data-Driven Prediction of Nanoparticle Biodistribution from Physicochemical Descriptors. ACS Nano. 2025 Jul 29;19(29):26425-26437. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.5c03040. Epub 2025 Jul 16. PMID: 40667750; PMCID: PMC12312149. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.5c03040

Source and further information:
https://www.empa.ch/web/s604/ki-mausmodell-bringt-medizinische-forschung-voran