Understanding Rotational Dynamics of Cargo in Intracellular Transport with Plasmonic Nanoparticle Probes

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Fang1004612A cell can be conceived as a factory containing a network of nanomachines. Many of these nanomachines transduce chemical energy into mechanical work in a cyclic manner. The malfunction of any of these nanomachines can lead to severe disease. There is an urgent need from the health and medicine sector for new innovative techniques to investigate the composition, dynamics, and working mechanism of the nanomachines in live cells. Translational motion can be readily revealed by a variety of conventional single particle tracking (SPT) methods. However, rotational motion in live cells is much more difficult to resolve and largely unknown due to challenging technical limitations. The outcomes of the proposed research will lay the groundwork for development of treatments for conditions caused by the malfunction of the cellular nanomachinery, ranging from certain kinds of blindness and kidney disease to neurodegenerative disorders and parasitic diseases. The research will be integrated into the curriculum and will include undergraduate optical imaging laboratory experiments. The PI proposes to develop a new imaging system based on single particle orientation and rotational tracking (SPORT), a technology invented by the PI. This system will provide 5 dimensional information on particles (xyz location plus two angular orientation) to better understand intracellular cargo transport. The PI will develop optical microscopy methods to track the rotation of single gold nanorods attached to intracellular cargo, such as vesicles and motor proteins, which when combined with x,y, and z translations will offer more complete insight into their dynamics in live cells.