Development of an Inorganic-Organic Nano-Assembly Bioimaging Platform

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The development of nanobiotechnology for diagnosis and treatment of diseases addressing current health-related challenges is of great interest for our society. A better understanding of nano-bio-interactions is of paramount importance to design innovative and more efficient solutions for applications such as drug delivery or imaging. Mirexus Biotechnologies Inc (MBI) has developed plant-derived carbohydrate nanoparticles (Phytoglycogen, PhG, derived from sweet corn), so-called NanoDendrix(TM). These are applied in immunomodulation, drug delivery and as anti-infectives. The surface chemistry of these nanoparticles allows for their easy modification to endow the organic nanoparticles with additional functionalities, for instance luminescence due to organic dyes. However, the combination of NanoDendrix(TM) with inorganic nanoparticles has yet to be explored. Of particular interest are lanthanide-based nanoparticles (Ln-NPs), due to their outstanding optical properties based on the use of near-infrared light that is able to penetrate deeper into biological tissues and induces less scattering, phototoxicity, and photobleaching than commonly required UV-vis light. Therefore, this project will develop inorganic-organic nano-assemblies based on NanoDentrix(TM), whose surface will be decorated with sub-10nm sized lanthanide-based nanoparticles. This endows the NanoDentrix(TM) with near-infrared-based optical properties that will be used in order to gain deeper insight into their nano-bio-interaction and ultimately biodistribution. In order to achieve this, we will use the innovative technique of hyperspectral imaging providing environment-specific (e.g. biological cells) optical information. In turn, the knowledge gained will be leveraged for the design and development of more efficient nanoprobes for biomedical applications benefiting Canadian Society.