Nanoscale study of heterogeneous brain architectures: Understanding disease mechanisms and devising novel therapeutics

COLL 396

Anne M. Andrews, ama11@psu.edu, Department of Veterinary & Biomedical Sciences and Huck Instititues of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, 201 Life Science Building, University Park, PA 16802, Mitchell J. Shuster, mjs648@psu.edu, Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, 104 Davey Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802, Amit U. Vaish, auv3@psu.edu, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, 201 Life Science Building, University Park, PA 16802, and Paul S. Weiss, stm@psu.edu, Departments of Chemistry and Physics, Pennsylvania State University, 152 Davey Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802-6300.
In order to investigate central nervous system interneuronal signaling at the length and time scales pertinent the to intrinsically encoded information, and to relate this information to complex behavior, brain disorders, and new treatments and prevention strategies, chemically specific in vivo sensors are required that approach the size of a synapse (ca. 20 nm) and that respond in milliseconds. We have developed methods to tether neurotransmitter molecules to highly optimized biospecific self-assembled monolayer surfaces. We have demonstrated that these surfaces selectively recognize large biomolecule binding partners, including antibodies and receptor proteins. We are using these neurotransmitter-functionalized surfaces to capture and identify high affinity molecular recognition elements, which we will couple to semiconductor nanowire or carbon nanotube platforms to create ultra small, multiplexed sensing devices having high sensitivity and fast response times. This has the potential to revolutionize in vivo sensing. A second overarching goal of this project is to interface multiplexed biospecific neurotransmitter-functionalized surfaces to mass spectrometry for the detection, structural identification, and association of functionally related proteome subsets.
 

Advances in Nanomedicine
8:30 AM-12:00 PM, Tuesday, 12 September 2006 Sir Francis Drake -- Monterey/Cypress Rooms, Oral

Division of Colloid & Surface Chemistry

The 232nd ACS National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, September 10-14, 2006