Progetti di ricerca

AMYGING will demonstrate in a zebrafish embryo model that natural polyphenol-based carrier systems hold a great potential as natural actives useful to form the basis of a highly modular amyloid imaging toolbox suitable for in vivo MRI and difference-fluorescence imaging.… Leggi tutto Out-of-the-box approaches for combining traditional amyloid-sensing structures with insights from nanotechnology, molecular electronics and inherent characteristics of natural polyphenols allow for the simultaneous realization of multimodal imaging probes. AMYGING aims at the implementation of a screening platform for highly sensitive detection of misfolded Aβ-oligomers in the CSF of AD patients via tunable nanoparticles (NPs). These NPs comprise a core of natural condensed polyphenolic (PNPs) structure complexing gadolinium ions and an outer layer of PNPs that are functionalized with amyloid-sensing small actives (ASSAs), a combination which leads to effectively increased contrast agent concentration in the immediate proximity of Aβ-oligomers for optimum bimodal imaging. Research will involve i) the specific targeting of amyloid oligomers by the sensing nanoparticles (ASNPs); ii) the exploration of the mechanism(s) of Aβ1-42 toxicity; and iii) the real-time monitoring using Gd(III) ions for MRI imaging. These three objectives will be targeted using an ethically unproblematic, yet 70% human genome carrying model organism, i.e., zebrafish embryos, enables an in vivo amyloid monitoring, which could potentially be extended to a monitoring for the entire life-spans; as such, AMYGING will set new standards in the field for both academic and industrial research concerned with either pure imaging, or even theranosis of amyloid-related illnesses. The toolbox character of the multipurpose active combined with the simplicity and unproblematic accessibility of the model organism will easily fascinate and offer a point of relation to the general public for awareness-generating public dissemination activities down to school levels. The fact that AMYGING thus represents a comprehensive example of how to overcome early stage animal studies will assist in demonstrating to the general public that forefront research is able to comply with the quest for ethically correct research practices, adhering at the same time to use of renewable resources and environmentally benign modular fabrication techniques, both for the synthetic efforts requested by the project, and the assembly of the nanostructured imaging composites.