Untangling the role of microglia in colonising brain tumours through targeted drug delivery

Hulme团队开发了一种拉曼活性可生物降解聚合物，可用于生成用于药物输送的纳米颗粒(NPs)。在与爱丁堡的Brunton小组的合作中，我们对小胶质细胞选择性摄取这些颗粒进行了成像[1]。在这个项目中，我们将与Sieger实验室合作，研究如何通过NPs将小分子和/或生物制品选择性地输送到小胶质细胞，以解开它们在斑马鱼模型中肿瘤定植和肿瘤增殖中的许多角色[2]。可视化将使用荧光和拉曼显微镜相结合的方式实现。特别是，我们将使用尖端的受激拉曼散射(SRS)显微镜[3]，跟踪可生物降解的NP在斑马鱼中的输送和吸收，并首次将其与表型反应相关联。

The Hulme group has developed a Raman-active biodegradable polymer which can be used to generate nanoparticles (NPs) for drug delivery. In collaboration with the Brunton group at Edinburgh we have imaged the selective uptake of these particles in microglia [1]. In this project we will collaborate with the Sieger lab to investigate how the selective delivery of small molecules and/or biologics to microglia via NPs can be used to untangle their many roles in tumour colonisation and tumour proliferation in zebrafish models [2]. Visualisation will be achieved using a combination of fluorescence and Raman microscopy. In particular, we will use a cutting-edge stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscope [3], to track biodegradable NP delivery and uptake in zebrafish and correlate this with phenotypic responses for the first time.