Minimum information reporting in bio-nano experimental literature

Matthew Faria; Mattias Björnmalm; Kristofer J Thurecht; Stephen J Kent; Robert G Parton; Maria Kavallaris; Angus P R Johnston; J Justin Gooding; Simon R Corrie; Ben J Boyd; Pall Thordarson; Andrew K Whittaker; Molly M Stevens; Clive A Prestidge; Christopher J H Porter; Wolfgang J Parak; Thomas P Davis; Edmund J Crampin; Frank Caruso

doi:10.1038/s41565-018-0246-4

Minimum information reporting in bio-nano experimental literature

Nat Nanotechnol. 2018 Sep;13(9):777-785. doi: 10.1038/s41565-018-0246-4. Epub 2018 Sep 6.

Authors

Matthew Faria^{1

2

3}, Mattias Björnmalm^{1

2

4

5}, Kristofer J Thurecht^{1

6

7}, Stephen J Kent^{1

8}, Robert G Parton^{1

9

10}, Maria Kavallaris^{1

11

12}, Angus P R Johnston^{1

13}, J Justin Gooding^{1

12}, Simon R Corrie^{1

6

14}, Ben J Boyd^{1

13}, Pall Thordarson^{1

12}, Andrew K Whittaker^{1

6}, Molly M Stevens^{1

4

5}, Clive A Prestidge^{1

15}, Christopher J H Porter^{1

13}, Wolfgang J Parak^{16

17}, Thomas P Davis^{1

13

18}, Edmund J Crampin^{19

20}, Frank Caruso^{21

22}

Affiliations

¹ ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, Australia.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
³ Systems Biology Laboratory, School of Mathematics and Statistics and Melbourne School of Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
⁴ Department of Materials, Imperial College London, London, UK.
⁵ Department of Bioengineering, and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK.
⁶ The Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
⁷ Centre for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
⁸ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
⁹ Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
¹⁰ Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
¹¹ Tumour Biology and Targeting Program, Children's Cancer Institute, Lowy Cancer Research Centre, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹² School of Chemistry, Australian Centre for NanoMedicine, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹³ Drug Delivery Disposition and Dynamics, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
¹⁴ Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
¹⁵ School of Pharmacy and Medical Science, The University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
¹⁶ Fachbereich Physik und Chemie, CHyN, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
¹⁷ Institute of Nano Biomedicine and Engineering, Shanghai Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Diagnosis and Treatment Instrument, Key Laboratory for Thin Film and Microfabrication Technology of the Ministry of Education, Department of Instrument Science and Engineering, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
¹⁸ Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
¹⁹ ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, Australia, . edmund.crampin@unimelb.edu.au.
²⁰ Systems Biology Laboratory, School of Mathematics and Statistics and Melbourne School of Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia. edmund.crampin@unimelb.edu.au.
²¹ ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, Australia, . fcaruso@unimelb.edu.au.
²² Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia. fcaruso@unimelb.edu.au.

Abstract

Studying the interactions between nanoengineered materials and biological systems plays a vital role in the development of biological applications of nanotechnology and the improvement of our fundamental understanding of the bio-nano interface. A significant barrier to progress in this multidisciplinary area is the variability of published literature with regards to characterizations performed and experimental details reported. Here, we suggest a 'minimum information standard' for experimental literature investigating bio-nano interactions. This standard consists of specific components to be reported, divided into three categories: material characterization, biological characterization and details of experimental protocols. Our intention is for these proposed standards to improve reproducibility, increase quantitative comparisons of bio-nano materials, and facilitate meta analyses and in silico modelling.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Biotechnology / methods*
Computer Simulation*
Humans
Models, Biological*
Nanostructures*
Nanotechnology / methods*
Reproducibility of Results