This study will develop a minimally invasive new sensing approach that addresses outstanding challenges of understanding the chemical nature, distribution and cooperativeness of the intracellular labile iron pool (LIP), at the single-cell level. In recent years, attempts have been made to measure the LIP in cells; however, the precise determination of the LIP remains elusive. The development of ultrasensitive and potentially organelle-specific plasmonic nanoprobes for LIP monitoring will improve the understanding of intracellular iron dynamics and distribution, and will thus have an impact on the optimization of existing chelation and supplementation therapies for iron disorders. The study will also provide research training opportunities for African American undergraduate and graduate students at the forefront of nanotechnology research.
The project will develop a unique approach using plasmonic nanostructure-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for selective sensing of the LIP, with nanomolar sensitivity. The work involves biotemplate-assisted nanopatterning of two-dimensional superlattices constructed from silver nanocrystals, and the physicochemical properties of these nanostructures will be characterized using a variety of analytical tools such as TEM, SEM, UV-Vis spectrometry, FT-IR, and Raman spectroscopy. The sensitivity and selectivity for the plasmonic detection of the LIP will be optimized and evaluated using lysates from millions of cells, and the eventual goal of the project is to integrate the optimal plasmonic nanostructures onto the facet of an optical fiber, so it can be inserted to individual cellular compartments, and used as an ultrasensitive nanoprobe for real-time monitoring of the LIP in vitro. It is expected that considerable progress in the elucidation of intracellular iron trafficking and dynamics will be achieved by the development of ultrasensitive LIP-specific plasmonic nanoprobes.
