This innovative project has been awarded $250,000 over two years from the New Frontiers in Research Fund – Exploration Grant in 2018. This Tri-Agency government program recognizes early-career researchers conducting game-changing projects, using unconventional approaches.
Traditional cancer therapies such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy have serious side effects and are often ineffective. This has led to the development of more precise and non-invasive “theranostic” (therapeutic and diagnostic) techniques for imaging and treating tumors. These techniques use external agents, typically nanoparticles or small molecules, which are injected into tumors. In photoacoustic imaging, for example, light pulses are directed at the tumor. The agent absorbs the light and generates heat, causing thermoelastic expansion and the emission of ultrasonic waves that can be measured by a detector. This
Professors Shawn Wettig, School of Pharmacy, and Kevin Musselman, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering
The requirements for these theranostic agents are numerous. They must be biocompatible and stable, selectively accumulate in tumor cells, effectively absorb light and convert it to heat and sound, and effectively kill cancer cells. Ideally they could also facilitate drug delivery and other imaging techniques, but individual nanoparticles or molecules are not currently capable of performing all of these roles.
“Since coming to Waterloo in 2015, WIN has been my primary channel for forming collaborations, both inside and outside of the University.”.
In this project, a new approach is being taken to develop multifunctional theranostic agents with highly controllable shape and composition. Solutions containing flakes of 2D materials that are promising theranostic agents are irradiated using a laser. The laser breaks the flakes into smaller pieces, forming 2D nanoparticles with diameters that are controlled by the irradiation time. The laser is polarized to induce a strong, directional electric field, such that the nanoparticles can align and bond in the field to form nanorods of the 2D materials, allowing theranostic agents with different aspect ratios to be produced. Different 2D materials are being studied to optimize the photothermal properties, and molecules that improve biocompatibility and accumulation in tumors are being incorporated into the agents. The biocompatibility, stability, cellular uptake, photothermal conversion efficiency, and in vitro anticancer activity of the nanorods will be studied as a function of their shape and composition, enabling the discovery of better theranostic agents to fight cancer.
For more stories like this, please see our 2018-2019 Annual Report.