CAREER: Cross-linked Phospholipid Nanosensors for Intracellular Investigations

化学系的分析和表面化学（ASC）项目将支持亚利桑那大学Craig Aspinwall教授的职业发展计划。阿斯平沃尔教授的综合研究和教育计划侧重于设计和利用由可聚合磷脂制备的新型细胞内光学纳米壳传感器。Aspinwall教授和他的研究小组将利用囊泡封装酶和荧光指示染料和蛋白质的组合，构建稳定的细胞内化学传感器，用于葡萄糖、丙酮酸、植酸和其他重要的生理分析。由此产生的传感器将用于监测复杂的生物系统。Aspinwall教授的研究将应用测量科学来解决目前生物学研究的前沿问题，并将为跨学科教育提供理想的平台。在教学层面，这些研究问题的化学和分析挑战将为渴望在化学和生物学界面工作的学员提供极好的教育机会。重要的是，该项目将把来自代表性不足的少数民族的学生纳入这一研究领域。目前可用的分析技术无法提供细胞水平的化学信息，这阻碍了神经系统疾病和癌症治疗新方法和改进方法的发展。Aspinwall教授实验室开发的新型微型传感器将使人们能够更好地理解单细胞水平上的生物过程。在未来，它们将使治疗与细胞异常有关的疾病成为可能。

The Analytical and Surface Chemistry (ASC) program of the Division of Chemistry will support the CAREER development plan of Prof. Craig Aspinwall of the University of Arizona. Prof. Aspinwall's integrated research and education program focuses on the design and utilization of new intracellular optical nanoshell sensors prepared with polymerizable phospholipids. Prof. Aspinwall and his research group will construct stabilized intracellular chemical sensors for glucose, pyruvate, phytate and other physiologically important analytes using a combination of vesicle-encapsulated enzymes and fluorescent indicator dyes and proteins. The resultant sensors will be used to monitor complex biological systems. The research of Prof. Aspinwall will apply measurement science to address problems that are currently at the frontier of biological research and will serve as an ideal platform for inter-disciplinary education. At the pedagogical level, the chemical and analytical challenges of these research problems will provide an excellent educational opportunity for trainees desiring work at the interface of chemistry and biology. Importantly, the project will integrate students from underrepresented minorities into this area of research. Currently available analysis techniques are unable to provide chemical information at the cellular level, which hampers the development of new and improved therapeutic methods for neurological diseases and cancer. The new miniaturized sensors developed in Prof. Aspinwall's laboratory will enable better understanding of biological processes at the single cell level. In the future they will enable the development of cures for diseases associated with cellular abnormalities.