Plasmonic optophysiology

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One of the next frontiers in bioanalytical sciences requires the design of sensors capable of providing a complete picture of the molecular changes distinguishing healthy and diseased tissues. Such chemical sensing devices are needed to unlock specific molecular mechanisms at the origin of diseases, to survey the impact of therapies on tissues and they may ultimately provide molecular endoscopes for monitoring the progress of therapies or diagnose diseases. Molecular sensors that are implantable in tissues will enable a significant leap in analytical chemistry and ultimately in life sciences. This is the next challenge at the center of my research program. The nascent field of plasmonic optophysiology applies concepts of photonic devices for the measurement of physiological parameters at the molecular level in cells or tissues. The major aim of this DG is the design analytical sensors based on (localized) surface plasmon resonance (SPR or LSPR) working in cells and tissues. This grant will serve to establish the analytical, material, and optics fundamentals for plasmonic optophysiology. Specifically, we will construct novel sensors based on LSPR and classical SPR embedded on optical nanofibers. We will investigate the extinction (reflection/transmission spectroscopy) or scattering (dark field spectroscopy) properties of nanoparticles placed on nanofibers as it has not been previously studied for plasmonic sensing. Refractometric sensors will then be constructed from the functionalization of the nanoparticle with molecular capture agents that will lead to spatially addressable microscopic plasmonic sensors capable of detecting biomolecules, such as nucleic acids, peptides or proteins. We will construct the instrumentation needed to perform plasmonic optophysiology in cells and tissues. Using model systems, we will validate the performance of plasmonic optophysiology in studying the expression of signaling peptides or proteins locally in tissues or near cultured cells, providing new possibilities to evaluate the secretion of these important neurochemicals. Extending beyond the scope of this grant, we envision that plasmonic optophysiology will ultimately be highly useful for the pharmacological screening of drugs to design new therapies or find optimal treatments from existing therapies, further advancing precision medicine.