US-Taiwan Planning Visit: Interrogating Nanodiamond-Cellular Interactions

该提案的目标是汇集美国和台湾研究人员的专业知识，研究纳米金刚石如何从根本上与生物系统相互作用，纳米金刚石是一种有前途的碳颗粒，已被证明可以显着提高分子成像和其他应用的安全性和效率。研究新材料的基本生物反应的能力仍然是生物工程，材料科学，化学和工程教育界的重要需求。从这些研究中收集到的信息可以改进材料设计原理，以用于广泛的应用。这项工作将使独特的纳米金刚石表面的合理设计和化学改性，以实现改善的生物相容性和洞察细胞如何响应暴露于这些试剂。这项研究将对提高纳米金刚石的安全性和广泛应用产生广泛的影响。本项目的主要部分是开发新颖的K-12教材，特别是以纳米金刚石为主题的漫画书。图形材料是促进学生学习复杂主题的好方法，并将有助于激励新一代探索未来的科学和工程职业。具体来说，一个研究生团队和加州大学洛杉矶分校的学术协调员将与台湾合作者合作，创造纳米钻石诺拉和尼尔的故事情节。纳米金刚石诺拉和尼尔将作为这本书的主要人物，这将突出他们的故事，从作为发动机磨料旅行到细胞作为探险家。诺拉和尼尔将在旅途中接受年轻科学家的指导。纳米金刚石已成为基础生物学研究的有前途的材料。截顶八面体纳米金刚石表面的刻面性质导致介导分子成像剂的功效和安全性的显著改善的独特物理化学性质。这些特性包括与水相协调的能力，这是优化成像对比度的关键要求。因此，与所有纳米颗粒化合物相比，基于纳米金刚石的成像具有独特的最高效率。鉴于它们作为纳米标记材料的前景，更好地理解纳米金刚石-细胞相互作用的机制变得越来越重要。这项工作的目的是汇集一个团队的合作者，提供最全面的研究，以日期如何广泛的类别的纳米金刚石（胺，羧基官能化，荧光/N-V中心等）。与细胞相互作用。方法，如半胱天冬酶测定，定量实时聚合酶链反应，活力测定和乳酸脱氢酶测定将被实施，以提供新的基本机制的洞察粒子暴露的生物反应。此外，CyTOF，一个强大的单细胞研究平台，使多途径相互作用测定将提供最详细的视图，细胞信号传导组件如何串扰，共同管理细胞行为的日期。这项工作将在技术上培养未来的科学和工程领导人方面发挥重要作用。

The goal of this proposal is to bring together expertise from researchers in the US and Taiwan to study how nanodiamonds, promising carbon particles that have been shown to markedly improve the safety and efficiency of molecular imaging and other applications, fundamentally interact with biological systems. The ability to examine the basic biological response to novel materials remains an important need in the bioengineering, materials science, chemistry and engineering education communities, among many others. The information gleaned from these studies can improve materials design principles for a broad array of applications. This work will enable rational design and chemical modification of the unique nanodiamond surfaces to realize improved biocompatibility and insight into how cells respond following exposure to these agents. This study will result in broad impact upon improving the safety and thus widespread implementation of nanodiamonds.A major part of this project is developing novel K-12 teaching materials, specifically a nanodiamond-themed comic book. Graphic materials are a great way to facilitate student learning of complex topics, and will help inspire a new generation to explore future careers in science and engineering. Specifically, a team of graduate students and the academic coordinator of UCLA will partner with Taiwanese collaborators to create the Nanodiamond Nora and Neal storyline. The Nanodiamond Nora and Neal will serve as the main characters of the book which will highlight their story from serving as engine abrasives to journeying into cells as explorers. Nora and Neal will be mentored by young scientists during the course of their journey. Technical AbstractNanodiamonds have emerged as promising materials for fundamental biological investigations. The faceted nature of the truncated octahedral nanodiamond surfaces results in unique physical-chemical properties that mediate marked improvements in the efficacy and safety of molecular imaging agents. These properties include the ability to coordinate water, a key requirement for optimizing imaging contrast. As such, nanodiamond-based imaging has uniquely resulted in among the highest efficiencies compared to all nanoparticle compounds. Given their promise as nano-labeling materials, it is becoming increasingly important to better understand the mechanisms that underlie nanodiamond-cell interactions. This work aims to bring together a team of collaborators to provide the most comprehensive study to date of how broad classes of nanodiamonds (amine, carboxyl-functionalized, fluorescent/N-V center, etc.) interact with cells. Methodologies such as caspase assays, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, viability assays, and lactate dehydrogenase assays will be implemented to provide new fundamental mechanistic insight into the biological response to particle exposure. Furthermore, CyTOF, a powerful single cell investigation platform that enables multi-pathway interaction assays will provide the most elaborate view to date of how cell signaling components crosstalk to collectively govern cell behavior. This work will play a major role in technically training future scientific and engineering leaders.