Fluorescent dyes and nanoparticles are widely used in chemistry, biology, and medicine but suffer from poor photostability or toxicity (nanoparticles). The goal of this proposal is to create ultra-stable, monovalent, organic nanoparticles or organic coated metallic/silicon nanoparticles (<6 nm size) using recently discovered chemistry that allows polyglycerol dendrimers and hyperbranched polymers to be tightly cross-linked around a core structure. The polyglycerol surfaces will be allylated and cross-linked using the ring-closing metathesis (RCM) reaction, followed by surface dihydroxylation to create a water-soluble particle. This chemistry is colloquially referred to as """"""""multi-layer shrink-wrapping."""""""" The goal of the shrink-wrapping is to chemically isolate the fluorophore or preexisting nanoparticle and thus: (1) prevent dye aggregation, which often diminishes its performance, (2) prevent its undesired association with membranes and other biomolecules, and, most importantly, (3) reduce or eliminate photobleaching, and (4) stabilize existing nanoparticles with a dense, biocompatible sheath. We propose that through extreme isolation of the fluorophore or nanoparticle it may function indefinitely, thereby enabling a range of applications not previously possible. The fluorescent nanoparticles, which are designed to be fully biocompatible, can exhibit a range of excitation and emission wavelengths.

Public Health Relevance

Fluorescent dyes and nanoparticles are widely used in medical diagnostics and for understanding chemical and biological processes at the molecular and cellular level. However, the dyes degrade rapidly upon irradiation and many nanoparticles contain toxic metals or are inherently toxic because of their surface coating. We propose a new strategy for preparing organic-based, ultra-stable and biocompatible fluorescent nanoparticles.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01GM087448-01A1
Application #
7784089
Study Section
Synthetic and Biological Chemistry A Study Section (SBCA)
Program Officer
Lewis, Catherine D
Project Start
2010-01-01
Project End
2013-12-31
Budget Start
2010-01-01
Budget End
2010-12-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$262,414
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Department
Chemistry
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
041544081
City
Champaign
State
IL
Country
United States
Zip Code
61820
Yang, Si Kyung; Zimmerman, Steven C (2015) Water-Soluble Polyglycerol Dendrimers with Two Orthogonally Reactive Core Functional Groups for One-Pot Functionalization. Macromolecules 48:2504-2508
Yang, Si Kyung; Shi, Xinghua; Park, Seongjin et al. (2013) A dendritic single-molecule fluorescent probe that is monovalent, photostable and minimally blinking. Nat Chem 5:692-7
Yang, Si Kyung; Zimmerman, Steven C (2012) Polyglycerol-Dendronized Perylenediimides as Stable, Water-Soluble Fluorophores. Adv Funct Mater 22:3023-3028
Yang, Si Kyung; Shi, Xinghua; Park, Seongjin et al. (2011) Monovalent, clickable, uncharged, water-soluble perylenediimide-cored dendrimers for target-specific fluorescent biolabeling. J Am Chem Soc 133:9964-7
Zill, Andrew; Rutz, Alexandra L; Kohman, Richie E et al. (2011) Clickable polyglycerol hyperbranched polymers and their application to gold nanoparticles and acid-labile nanocarriers. Chem Commun (Camb) 47:1279-81