EAGER: Novel family of cellulose acetate fluorescent nanoparticles for bio imaging applications

纤维素是地球上最丰富的生物相容性材料之一。醋酸纤维素、粘胶或人造丝是技术最发达、特性最好的纤维素衍生物，对人类完全无害。虽然由醋酸纤维素(CA)制成的各种光学材料已经被开发出来，但由这种纤维素衍生物制成的光学纳米材料还不存在。这项计划致力于开发第一批由醋酸纤维素(CA)制成的荧光纳米颗粒和纳米纤维，使其具有潜在的生物医学应用前景。该项目将研究CA的纳米光学性质，然后评估其作为生物光子学应用的标记和传感器的潜力。最初的工作证明了包埋染料之间存在供体-受体偶联。胶囊化疏水荧光染料具有许多优点，如优异的光稳定性。这些特征表明了一种新的平台的潜力，用于开发生物医学应用的整个荧光纳米颗粒和纳米传感器家族。显然需要解决关键的探索性问题，以降低这种变革性方法的高风险。例如，CA纳米颗粒中包裹的染料的光子性质还没有被研究过。荧光和功能分子在颗粒合成中的作用尚不清楚。这些问题和其他问题将在该项目中得到解决。

Cellulose is one of the most abundant biocompatible materials on earth. Cellulose acetate, viscose, or artificial silk are the most technologically developed and well-characterized derivatives of cellulose, which is completely benign to humans. While various optical materials have been developed from cellulose acetate (CA), optical nanomaterials made of this cellulose derivative are nonexistent. This proposal deals with the development of the first fluorescent nanoparticles and nanofibers made of cellulose acetate (CA), that would make them potentially transformative for biomedical applications.The project will study CA nano-optical properties then evaluate their potential as labels and sensors for biophotonic applications. Initial work demonstrated the presence of donor-acceptor coupling between encapsulated dyes. Encapsulating hydrophobic fluorescent dyes have many advantages such as exceptional photostability. These features suggest the potential of a new platform for developing a whole family of fluorescent nanoparticles and nanosensors for biomedical applications. There is a clear need to address key exploratory questions to reduce the high risk of this transformative approach. For example, photonic properties of encapsulated dyes inside of CA nanoparticles has not been studied. The role of fluorescent and functional molecules in the particle synthesis is unclear. These questions and others will be addressed in the project.