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Nanosensors Used to Track Progression of Obesity-Related Diseases

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AUTUM C. PYLANT, NEWS EDITOR, [email protected]

According to a New England Journal of Medicine study, more than one third of the world’s population is overweight or obese. And, these weight issues can often lead to other health concerns. Researchers from the University of Rhode Island, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences have created an optical reporter via nanosensor, which is capable of detecting the progression of obesity-related diseases.

Molecules of fat (yellow) binding to the nanosensor.
Molecules of fat (yellow) binding to the nanosensor. Courtesy of Daniel Roxbury.

The nanosensors are specially formulated aqueously dispersed single-walled photoluminescent carbon nanotubes, made entirely of one specific semiconducting species. 

According to the researchers, the nanosensor responds to lipid and fat accumulation — inside the lysosomal lumen of live cells — through modulation of the nanotube’s optical band gap. This type of fat accumulation can be indicative of diseases including heart disease, Alzheimer’s and certain types of cancers. 

University of Rhode Island researcher Daniel Roxbury told Photonics Media that once inside the lysosomes of the cells, molecules of fat can bind to the surface of the carbon nanotubes, altering the wavelength of the light that is emitted.

“The near-infrared light that is emitted by the carbon nanotubes plays a vital role in the ability to detect the accumulation of fat inside of the living cells. The wavelength of the emitted light is unique, as compared to conventional fluorescent dyes,” said Roxbury. “We can use the intrinsic response of the emitted light, in terms of a blue-shifting response, to confirm an abnormal accumulation of fat.”

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And this confirmation can help doctors diagnose the disease, enabling them to catch and treat it early on.

The researchers found that their nanosensors function well in live cells.

Daniel Roxbury
Daniel Roxbury, assistant professor of chemical engineering at the University of Rhode Island. Courtesy of Daniel Roxbury.

“This enables us to monitor the progression of a disease as well as its reversal when we add an appropriate drug,” said Roxbury. “I believe that carbon nanotubes present a unique opportunity for use in biomedical applications and that their full potential has yet to be uncovered.”

In the future, the researchers hope to move this technology to in vivo applications in animal studies and potentially identify new drug candidates to cure obesity-related diseases.

The research has been published in the journal ACS Nano (doi: 10.1021/acsnano.7b04743).

Published: October 2017
Glossary
nano
An SI prefix meaning one billionth (10-9). Nano can also be used to indicate the study of atoms, molecules and other structures and particles on the nanometer scale. Nano-optics (also referred to as nanophotonics), for example, is the study of how light and light-matter interactions behave on the nanometer scale. See nanophotonics.
infrared
Infrared (IR) refers to the region of the electromagnetic spectrum with wavelengths longer than those of visible light, but shorter than those of microwaves. The infrared spectrum spans wavelengths roughly between 700 nanometers (nm) and 1 millimeter (mm). It is divided into three main subcategories: Near-infrared (NIR): Wavelengths from approximately 700 nm to 1.4 micrometers (µm). Near-infrared light is often used in telecommunications, as well as in various imaging and sensing...
photoluminescence
The state of optically excited luminescence. Luminescence refers to the light emitted by excited atoms or ions as they decay to lower energy levels.
Research & TechnologyeducationpeopleBiophotonicsnanoSensors & DetectorsImagingOpticsoptical reporternanosensorUniversity of Rhode IslandMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterWeil Cornell Graduate School of Medical SciencesDaniel RoxburycancerobesitydiseaseAutum PylantNIRinfraredphotoluminescenceBioScan

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