NOVEL SEMICONDUCTING NANOCRYSTALS FOR CANCER DETECTION

该项目的总体目标是开发新型半导体纳米晶体（NC，或量子 点（QD）），其将作为高效、稳定、生物相容的体内标记物用于早期 检测癌症。在先前的研究中，我们已经开发了QD，并随后对其进行了体内测试。 应用于癌症。虽然这些材料与有机荧光染料相比具有许多优点，但它也具有 很明显，含镉材料不太可能适合临床使用。由于这些原因， 开发了新的NC材料，似乎非常有前途的生物应用。此外，我们在 扩展这些和其他QD的功能，用于靶向、终身和多模态成像。许多 生物学上合适的材料将基于以多价和多价形式连接到NC上的亲和配体 forms.本质上，该项目将为CCNE创建一个高度新颖的无机纳米材料工具箱 财团具体目标是1）合成、表征和功能化一类新的生物活性剂， 基于生物惰性构建块（GaN、InGaN和Si）的稳定NC，2）合成并 开发新型无机半导体异质结构NC，寿命延长（100 ns）， 更高量子以产生更有效的体内诊断，3）开发具有双重功能的功能性“智能”NC， 功能，例如磁性和荧光纳米颗粒或金属和半导体， 用作动态传感器，4）开发纳米颗粒，其用a）增加化合价的 生物配体使得更多数量的较短肽配体可以结合到感兴趣的细胞表面， 并且仍然保持总体高亲和力（多价性）和B）具有多种不同的生物配体 连接到相同的纳米颗粒标签（多价）和5）测试新开发的纳米颗粒的功效和毒性。 小鼠癌症模型中的纳米材料。

The overall goal of this project is to develop new classes of semiconducting nanocrystals (NC, or quantum dots (QD)) that will function as highly efficient, stable, biologically compatible in vivo tags for the early detection of cancer. In prior research we have developed QD and subsequently tested them for in vivo applications in cancer. While these materials have many advantages over organic fluorochromes, it has also become clear that Cd containing materials will unlikely be suited for clinical use. For these reasons we have developed novel NC materials that appear highly promising for biological applications. In addition, we are extending the functionality of these and other QD for targeted, lifetime and multimodality imaging. Many of the biologically suited materials will be based on affinity ligands attached to NC in multivalent and polyvalent forms. In essence this project will create a toolbox of highly novel, inorganic nanomaterials for this CCNE consortium. The specific aims are to 1) synthesize, characterize and functionalize a new class of biological stable NC that are based on biologically inert building blocks (GaN, InGaN, and Si), 2) synthesize and develop new types of inorganic semiconductor heterostructured NC with increased (100 ns) lifetimes and high quantum to yield more efficient in vivo diagnostics, 3) develop functional "smart" NC that will have dual functions, for example magnetic and fluorescent nanoparticles or metal and semiconductors that could be used as dynamic sensors, 4) develop nanoparticles that are functionalized with a) increased valency of biological ligands such that higher number of shorter peptides ligands can bind to the cell surface of interest, and still maintain an overall high affinity (multivalency) and b) have multiple different biological ligands attached to the same nanoparticle tag (polyvalency) and 5) test the efficacy and toxicity of newly developed nanomaterials in mouse models of cancer.