I-Corps: Hybrid Halos for Biological Markers, Probes and Therapies

这个i-Corps项目的广泛影响/商业潜力是引入了一类在生命科学中具有广泛应用的新型纳米颗粒-分子杂化材料。这些混合探测器将能够在组织深处非侵入性地传递紫外线和可见光，否则光线无法穿透，以标记治疗或诊断的目标。例如，这种光可以用来触发局部兴趣点的肿瘤药物的释放，激发成像的荧光团，启动基因工程物种的神经放电或细胞信号转导级联等。我们材料的应用将使更先进的实验成为可能，导致更好地了解大脑等复杂系统，这最终将有助于治疗和预防大脑疾病。此外，由于这些粒子在非常低的激发密度下执行光子上转换，因此更便宜的非相干光源，如红色LED，可以取代目前所需的高功率近红外激光器。这是个性化医疗的护理点测试的理想之选，也是即时诊断和便携性必不可少的战场。I-Corps项目基于一种分子-纳米晶体混合体，它通过多步能量转移过程上转换光。对于上述生命科学应用，我们的标签通过避免在生物物种吸收、散射和自动荧光的光学窗口处激发，显示出比现有商业技术更高的灵敏度。该系统的不同组件可以被调节，以从入射的低能近红外光子中选择性地产生高能紫外线和可见光光子。通过对纳米晶体光吸收体和分子发射体的综合控制，获得了较高的光子上转换量子产率。对这项技术的基本理解和进一步发展涉及光物理、材料科学和合成化学领域的跨学科研究。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broad impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the introduction of a novel class of nanoparticle-molecular hybrid materials with a wide range of applications in the life sciences. These hybrid probes will enable the non-invasive delivery of ultra-violet and visible photons deep in tissue where the light could not otherwise penetrate, to mark targets for therapy or diagnostics. For example, this light may be used to trigger the uncaging of tumor drugs at local points of interest, excite fluorophores for imaging, initiate neural firing or cellular signal transduction cascades in genetically engineered species, etc. The application of our materials will enable more advanced experiments, leading to better understanding of complex systems such as the brain, which will ultimately help treat and prevent brain disorders. In addition, since these particles perform photon upconversion at very low excitation densities, much cheaper non-coherent light sources such as red LEDs can replace the high power near-infrared lasers currently required today. This is ideal for point of care testing for personalized medicine and the battlefield where instant diagnosis and portability are essential. The I-Corps project is based on a molecular-nanocrystal hybrid that upconverts light via a multi-step energy transfer process. For the life science applications mentioned above, our label exhibits much higher sensitivity than existing commercial technologies by avoiding excitation at the optical window where biological species absorb, scatter, and autofluoresce. Different components of the system can be tuned to selectively produce high energy ultra-violet and visible photons from incoming low energy near-infrared photons. Synthetic control of both the nanocrystal light absorber and molecular transmitter and emitter have resulted in a high photon upconversion quantum yield. Fundamental understanding and further development of this technology involves interdisciplinary research in the fields of photophysics, material science, and synthetic chemistry.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.