NanoSight, leading manufacturers of unique
nanoparticle characterization technology, reports on the work of Professor Tuan
Vo-Dinh's group at Duke University where they apply Nanoparticle Tracking
Analysis (NTA) to characterize metal nanoparticle construct materials for use
in biosensing, imaging and cancer therapy.
The Vo-Dinh Lab is a part of the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and
Chemistry of Duke University. The Vo-Dinh Lab is also a part of the Fitzpatrick
Institute for Photonics, of which Professor Vo-Dinh is the director.
The main research goal of the group is to develop advanced techniques and
methods to protect the environment (environmental sensors) and improve human
health (medical diagnostics and therapy). As a part of these research goals, Dr
Hsiangkuo Yuan and other members of Professor Vo-Dinh's group design and
fabricate metal nanoparticle constructs such as gold nanostar platforms. These
are characterized with UV-VIS, TEM, Raman microscope, fluorometers and other
techniques. However, to design nanoconstructs for in vivo applications, the
particle size needs to be in the range from 10 to 100 nm for lower clearance
from the kidney and reticuloendothelial system (RES). It is important that the
construct is in the right size range and is physiologically stable
(non-aggregated) for biomedical applications in, for example, optical imaging
or nanodrug delivery where it is also critical that the nanoparticle dose
administered can be determined. To compare plasmonic properties, i.e. the
enhanced electromagnetic properties of nanoparticles, they need to determine
the effect of different sizes and to understand in detail the profile of the
particle size distribution of similar concentrations which can be obtained
using NanoSight's NTA system.
Prior to NTA, the group mostly used TEM to look at particle shape and measure
particle size. The surface coating or the aggregation state cannot be easily
investigated using just TEM. NanoSight provides a significant complementary
role on providing hydrodynamic size distribution and zeta potential. Moreover,
because NanoSight gives the concentration information, it allows them to
normalize their comparison by individual particle counting which was quite
difficult to obtain previously.
Commenting on the benefits of using the NanoSight alongside TEM (for size) and
atomic absorption spectroscopy (for mass), Professor Vo-Dinh said the ability
to make characterization particle by particle provides complementary
information to the ensemble characterization (e.g. DLS). The group have
published nanoconstruct data, specifically gold nanostars, in the journal, Nanotechnology,
with another paper currently in press, Nanomedicine. They report the
determination of particle hydrodynamic size distribution, zeta potential and
concentration using NTA.
To find out about the company and to learn more about particle characterization
using NanoSight's unique nanoparticle tracking analysis solutions, visit
www.nanosight.com
and register to receive the next issue of NanoTrail, the company's electronic
newsletter.
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