EAGER: Development of fluorescent sensors of temperature and iron ion concentrations around magnetic particles under the action of an oscillating magnetic field

该项目的目标是开发光学传感器，以了解热疗(过热)治疗癌症的机制。这项有希望的技术是通过首先注入磁性纳米颗粒，然后用磁场加热它们来实现的。热疗仍存在多种副作用，阻碍了热疗的广泛应用。目前人们认为，与正常组织相比，温度升高对癌症的毒性更大。在这个项目中，研究人员将检验这样一个假设，即磁性纳米颗粒在磁场的作用下主动溶解自己，从而增加化学毒性，这也有助于杀死癌细胞。为了验证这一假设，将开发新的光学传感器来测量磁性颗粒周围的局部温度和铁盐浓度。收集到的知识将用于提高热疗治疗癌症的效率，并最终减少副作用。该项目还将对一名女研究生进行包括纳米光子学、物理学和医学在内的多学科领域的教育和研究培训，并将结果纳入“扫描探针显微镜导论”和“纳米与微观力学”课程。为了了解热疗对癌细胞的作用机理，将开发温度和铁离子的超亮荧光比率纳米传感器。一层薄薄的磁性颗粒荧光涂层对温度和铁离子浓度的变化很敏感。超高亮度的光子传感器将允许光学检测温度和离子浓度的变化，否则这是非常具有挑战性的。这项技术将有助于理解振荡磁场对氧化铁磁性纳米颗粒的作用。这一理解很重要，因为磁场不仅被考虑用于癌症的热疗，而且还被用于各种其他成像和药物输送技术。这项工作还将有助于理解拟议的纳米传感器的纳米多孔二氧化硅基质中包裹的染料的光子性质。这一奖项反映了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 goal of this project is to develop optical sensors to understand the mechanism of treating cancer by hyperthermia (overheating). This promising techniques is performed by first injecting magnetic nanoparticles then heating them with a magnetic field. Hyperthermia treatment is still suffering from multiple side effects, which prevent its broad use. It is currently believed that increased temperature is more toxic for cancer compared to normal tissue. In this project, the investigators will test the hypothesis that the magnetic nanoparticles actively dissolve themself under the action of the magnetic field, thereby adding chemical toxicity, which also helps kill cancer cells. To test this hypothesis, new optical sensors will be developed to measure localized temperature and iron salt concentration around the magnetic particles. The collected knowledge will be used to increase the efficiency of hyperthermia treatment of cancer and eventually decrease the side effects. The project will also contribute to the education and research training of a female graduate student in this multidisciplinary area including nanophotonics, physics, and medicine, and results will be incorporated into “Introduction to scanning probe microscopy” and “Nano and micro mechanics” courses.To understand the mechanism of action of hyperthermia treatment on cancer cells, ultrabright fluorescent ratiometric nanosensors of temperature and iron ions will be developed. A thin fluorescent coating of magnetic particles will be sensitive to the change of temperature and the concentrations of iron ions. Ultrahigh brightness of the photonic sensors will allow detecting the changes in temperature and ionic concentration optically, which is otherwise highly challenging. This technique will aid in the understanding of the action of the oscillating magnetic field on iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles. This understanding is important because magnetic fields are considered not only for hyperthermia treatment of cancer but for various other imaging and drug delivery techniques as well. This work will also shed light on the understanding of the photonic properties of encapsulated dyes inside of nanoporous silica matrix of the proposed nanosensors.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.