Multifunctional colloidal nanoparticles for dual imaging with fluorescence, magnitic and radioactive detection

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Wolfgang Parak
• Subject Area: Biological and Biomimetic Chemistry
• Term: from 2010 to 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 170468592

Colloidal nanoparticles composed out of an inorganic core and a polymer shell will be synthesized. Both, the core and the polymer shell will be either fluorescence, magnetic, or radioactive, so that they can be imaged with fluorescence, magnetic resonance, or radioactivity, respectively. By combining different cores with different polymer shells nine different types of particles for dual imaging will be obtained, as for example fluorescent cores with radioactive polymer shells. In this way a toolkit of nine types of nanoparticles will be created out of which each can be imaged with two different modes. Due to the topography of the polymer shell all nine different types of particles will posses the same surface chemistry and thus have the same interface for consecutive conjugation with ligands. Double labelling will allow for examining the fate of nanoparticles which are incorporated by living cells, for example to find out if the polymer shell around the core is digested or released. Demonstration experiments with double labelling will involve the full band width of particle distribution within organs (on a whole animal level), within tissue derived from the organs (on a tissue level) up to distribution within cells derived from the tissue (on a single cell level).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Major Instrumentation: Partikelzählgerät
• Instrumentation Group: 1950 Partikelzählgeräte und -klassiergeräte (optisch, elektronisch, außer 35