The Biophysical Chemistry of Nanoparticle Interactions

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Increasingly nanoparticles (NPs) will find themselves in biological milieus, either purposefully or accidentally. Of the many structures NPs will encounter, membranes may be the most critical, as membranes protect organisms from foreign objects. The research program described above will significantly advance our knowledge of the critical NP properties that can be used to predict NP interactions with biomembranes. Parameters such as relative charge, NP size and surface chemistry, surface tension, and solution ionic strength will be elements of a predictive matrix model that we will develop. Current models for environmental impact of NPs and NP distributions in organisms do not possess predictive capabilities for partitioning of NPs onto and into membranes. The models we develop will influence policy decisions on regulating NPs, can be directly compared with our in vivo work, and used to rationally design new NPs. Additionally, we have a unique capability in Calgary to measure the assembly kinetics and equilibria for hierarchical, higher-order NPs using 3-colour fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy. This will provide previously unavailable data and insight into the NP assembly process and will generate new understanding of NP-protein corona dynamics, NP flocculation dynamics and colloid instability dynamics.