Using a highly multidisciplinary approach, the research groups of Neil Thomas from the School of Chemistry in collaboration with Amalia Patanè and Lyudmila Turyanska (Physics & Astronomy) and Tracey Bradshaw (Pharmacy), together with researchers at Bristol University and Cadiz University, have harnessed the protein apoferritin, which naturally occurs in many organisms including humans to store iron ions, as a biocompatible label of healthy and diseased cells in in vivo imaging and a platform for the development of novel drug delivery vehicles.
In previously reported research1 funded by an MRC discipline hopping award and The Leverhulme Trust, the team has demonstrated that the apoferritin protein capsule, which is made of 24 protein subunits that come together in a similar fashion to the panels of a leather football, can be assembled around a highly fluorescent inorganic nanocrystal called quantum dot. The wavelength of the photon emission of the quantum dot depends both on its composition and size. The Nottingham team has used lead sulfide quantum dots as these emit in the near infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum where mammalian tissue absorbance is weak. This should allow quantum dot/apoferritin composites to be observed too much greater depths within tissue samples. The Nottingham team will develop this work further through an MRC Milstein Fund award. This award is named after César Milstein who was honoured with a Nobel Prize in 1984 for his pioneering work on the production of monoclonal antibodies. The award was established specifically to support pioneering and original research ideas with potential for high impact and that may involve a diverse range of disciplines. The Nottingham team will engineer the apoferritin protein sphere to allow it to be used as a platform with other imaging agents such as those employed in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to create multimodal imaging particles that will be evaluated by Sue Watson (Preclinical Oncology) and other groups in the Queen’s Medical centre and Sir Peter Mansfield MRI Centre.
1 Turyanska, Lyudmila; Bradshaw, Tracey D.; Sharpe, Jason; Li, Mei; Mann, Stephen; Thomas, Neil R.; Patane, Amalia. The Biocompatibility of Apoferritin-Encapsulated PbS Quantum Dots. Small (2009), 5, 1738-1741; Hennequin, Barbara; Turyanska, Lyudmila; Ben, Teresa; Beltran, Ana M.; Molina, Sergio I.; Li, Mei; Mann, Stephen; Patane, Amalia; Thomas, Neil R.. Aqueous near-infrared fluorescent composites based on apoferritin-encapsulated PbS quantum dots. Advanced Materials (Weinheim, Germany) (2008), 20, 3592-3596.
Posted on Thursday 5th November 2009