Use of nanotechnology for imaging of cell surface oligosaccharides for early diagnosis of cancer

Student: Agnes Rafalko
Department: Chemistry
Advisor: William Hancock

Abstract

Glycosylation is one of the most common post-translational modifications for human and other eukaryotic proteins and is required for many proteins to fold to the correct 3-dimensional structure and thus achieve full biological activity. It has been established that cell surface oligosaccharides are major determinants of altered glycosylation pattern in cancer cells.

Profiling of glycans in cells and biological fluids for elucidating their function with respect to human disease has been accomplished by affinity capture with lectins. In order to visualize changes in glycosylation in cells and tissues we propose to functionalize the surface of gold nanoparticles (40 nm) with lectins that will be delivered to specific glycan types via selective binding of lectins to different glycan motifs. Once incorporated into the glycans, this nanosystem will be applied to non-invasive imaging of glycan types and changes in their structure using 2-photon confocal laser scanning microscopy.

Imaging of glycosylation changes presents a significant opportunity for early non-invasive, sensitive, and specific detection of unique “biochemical signatures” that differentiate and characterize tissues beyond and before their gross anatomical features become obvious.