Bionanomaterial Uptake and Fate in Corbicula fluminea

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ABSTRACT"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."CBET- 0853989Vikesland, PeterVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Bionanomaterial Uptake and Fate in Corbicula fluminea Similar to what has been observed with pharmaceuticals and personal care products, consumer use and disposal of ?bionanomaterials? will inevitably result in their discharge to municipal wastewater treatment systems and, ultimately, to aquatic ecosystems. Accordingly, an improved understanding of the uptake and fate of bionanomaterials in biological and environmental systems is critical. The principal objective of this proposal is to determine how bionanomaterial affect nanomaterial uptake and fate in a sentinel aquatic test organism, Corbicula fluminea. The working hypothesis is that nanomaterial uptake into this organism will primarily be affected by the type of biological carrier used to functionalize the particle and to a lesser extent will depend on the size and shape of the material. This hypothesis is to be tested by this project by using gold nanoparticles functionalized with three different types of biological carriers: polyethylene glycol, oligonucleotides, and peptides. A comprehensive research plan to test this hypothesis consists of the following set of four research tasks: (1) Production and functionalization of gold bionanomaterials, (2) Quantification of bionanomaterial uptake and storage in Corbicula fluminea, (3) Evaluation of bionanomaterial uptake by clam hemocytes, and (4) Visualization of bionanomaterial uptake by clam hemocytes. Tangible products of this research include: 1) The first detailed study examining nanomaterial uptake and fate in bivalves, and 2) Detailed characterization of the effects of particle size, shape, and surface functionalization on uptake by Corbicula and by hemocytes extracted from Corbicula hemolymph (blood). This project will lead to better understanding of the uptake, ccumulation, and partitioning of engineered nanomaterials in a sentinel indicator species often used in environmental monitoring. Beyond a contribution to pressing research needs in nanotechnology environmental health and safety, the project will offer an educational outreach component. Members of the Virginia Tech Environmental BioNanotechnology Laboratory research team will work in partnership with the National Science Foundation sponsored EIGER Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Program at Virginia Tech and the Western Virginia Public Education Consortium to establish a series of extramurally-funded internships that enable middle school educators and students to shadow the research team and learn about new methods for observing nanoscale phenomena occurring at biological and environmental interfaces.