MRI: Acquisition of a CytoViva system for highly interdisciplinary research and education in nanoscience and nanotechnology

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This project involves acquisition of a CytoViva optical microscope instrument that will benefit over 10 faculty and 100 undergraduate and graduate students (including underrepresented groups) at three Midwestern institutions of higher education, namely Wright State University (WSU), Otterbein University, Ohio, and Ball State University (BSU), Indiana. The cutting-edge equipment will facilitate the optical imaging and spectral confirmation of a wide range of nanomaterials in live biological systems or composite materials. Thereby, its acquisition will strengthen the research of these scientists and will lead to new interdisciplinary collaborations that will offer fundamental insight into critical nano-biomedical and environmental problems. The exploitation of the CytoViva system as a teaching tool will contribute to the development of modern academic curricula and the next generation of instrumentalists. Furthermore, over 100 high school students will be annually engaged in hands-on nano-related activities (Exploring STEMM Program at WSU). The scientific results and pedagogic materials will be shared with the scientific community at large and general public through various venues. The proposed CytoViva system will consist of a high signal-to-noise-enhanced dark-field optical microscope and an integrated hyperspectral imaging system. It will be equipped with a proprietary Dual Fluorescence Module, which will facilitate the real time, simultaneous imaging of both fluorescently-labeled and non-labeled nanomaterials with high spectral. The CytoViva technique has the following unique capabilities: a) no sample preparation and no alteration in the targeted environment, b) improved time- and cost-efficiency, c) pixel-specific spectral data, and d) the capability of differentiating between similar nanostructures based on finite differences in their aggregation state, orientation, and functionalization. The breadth of interdisciplinary research projects impacted by the CytoViva system will include a) identifying the broad-spectrum antiviral mechanism of silver nanoparticles against deadly viruses, b) developing methodologies for studying the cellular trafficking and transformations of noble metal nanomaterials for biomedical applications, c) understanding the molecular basis of gene expression regulation involved in the antibiotic resistance of pathogenic bacteria using gold nanoparticles functionalized with aptamers, d) treating and detecting docetaxel resistant prostate cancer by targeted nanomedical formulation, and e) cytosolic mapping of digitalis Na/K-ATPase complex internalization as a potentially new cellular signaling mechanism.