With support from the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professors Vachet and Rotello and their groups at University of Massachusetts, Amherst will develop a new mass spectrometry-based imaging approach to track nanomaterials in biological samples. Nanoparticles are increasingly used in applications that include drug delivery, sensing, imaging and therapy. In all cases, nanoparticles with the desired biological stability are required. Conversely, the increased presence of nanomaterials in commercial products raises concerns over the environmental and biological fate of nanomaterials. These new methods to be developed by Vachet and Rotello will provide quantitative insight into how to design nanoparticles of desired stability, from semi-stable materials used in drug delivery to much more stable materials that are required in commercial products. In addition to the envisioned scientific and societal impacts, the PIs propose to disseminate learned knowledge broadly through the National Nanomanufacturing Network (NNN) among the nanomanufacturing research, development and education community, as well as provide research opportunities to both undergraduate and graduate students, including those from underrepresented minority groups.
The intellectual merits of the proposed work lay in the development a dual mode imaging approach that can track nanoparticles based on both their core material and their functionalized monolayers. Specifically, Vachet and Rotello will use laser desorption/ionization (LDI) MS to track nanoparticles in tissues according to the monolayer molecules attached to the gold core and laser ablation (LA) inductively-coupled plasma (ICP) MS imaging to site-specifically monitor the extent to which nanoparticles stay still intact in biological systems. Vachet and Rotello will then use this new combined imaging approach to study the effect of nanoparticle surface chemistry, nanoparticle size, and tissue biochemistry on nanoparticle stability in tissues and organs from mice after intravenous (IV) injection of these NPs.
