Minority Predoctoral Fellowship Program

描述（由申请人提供）：由于需要进入主要的临床化学实验室，目前对疾病状态的快速诊断和持续监测受到限制。Asher小组开发的聚合晶体胶体阵列（PCCAs）具有作为各种临床重要分析物的光学检测器的潜力。PCCAs是一种水凝胶，由于其胶体粒子的高度有序结构，可以对可见光进行布拉格衍射。水凝胶的膨胀引起衍射光的红移。通过用酶和小分子配体功能化水凝胶的聚合物骨架，可以诱导肿胀，以响应各种临床相关分析物的存在。该PCCA传感基序将用于检测心肌缺血的分子标记。这些传感器将优化护理点应用的情况下，临床化学实验室是不可用的或权宜之计。这项研究将涉及新型聚合物材料的合成和表征，以及它们作为临床传感器的效用的验证。临床应用的pcca的发展将结合基础材料研究和体外试验的优化研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Rapid diagnosis and continuous monitoring of disease states is currently limited by the need to access a major clinical chemistry laboratory. Polymerized Crystalline Colloidal Arrays (PCCAs) developed in the Asher group have the potential to serve as optical detectors of a wide variety of clinically important analytes. PCCAs are hydrogels that Bragg diffract visible light due to the highly ordered structure of their colloidal particles. Swelling of the hydrogel causes a redshift of the diffracted light. By functionalizing the polymer backbone of the hydrogel with enzymes and small molecule ligands, swelling can be induced in response to the presence of a variety of clinically relevant analytes. This PCCA sensing motif will be developed to detect molecular markers of cardiac ischemia. These sensors will be optimized for point of care applications for situations in which a clinical chemistry lab is not available or expedient. The research will involve the synthesis and characterization of novel polymeric materials, as well as validation of their utility as clinical sensors. The proposed development of PCCAs for clinical applications will combine fundamental materials studies and optimization studies with in vitro trials.