We are designing novel probes and sensors to accelerate scientific discovery and drug development. New technologies that enable previously inaccessible biological measurements can reveal new mechanisms of disease, while new probes and assays can provide the tools needed to identify and rapidly screen potential therapeutics. We are developing single-walled carbon nanotube sensors that operate in the near-infrared and can report on biochemical processes in complex biological environments. A major focus of this work is expanding the library of available fluorescent defect types, creating nanotubes with new emission wavelengths, chemical functionalities, and sensing capabilities.
Our lab has pioneered new routes for creating and controlling these defects. We have developed peroxide-mediated methods for generating emissive quantum defects, handle-free chemistry that allows more than 200 different small molecules to be directly conjugated onto nanotubes, and approaches using boronic acids as radical precursors to access new aryl and alkyl defect structures. We are also investigating how parameters such as solvent, pH, reaction conditions, and thermal annealing influence defect formation and fluorescence. Together, these approaches greatly broaden the chemical and optical space accessible through defect engineering, transforming a relatively limited set of known emissive defects into a much larger and more diverse library. By expanding this library and understanding how defect structure controls optical properties, we aim to create increasingly tunable near-infrared probes that can address new biological questions, uncover disease mechanisms, and accelerate biomedical discovery.
News
Building quantum nanosensors for cancer blood tests
Nano-Sensors Taste Fat in Live Cells
The Inner Light: Nanotechnology Reveals Density of Tumors
Publications
Piletsky SS, Keblish EE, Goffin AR, Jin X, Hwang I-J, Amb A, Kilin D, Kilina S, Zheng M, Kim M, Heller DA. Handle-free conjugation of small molecules generates tunable emissive defects on carbon nanotubes. Nature Synthesis (2026).
SS Piletsky, EE Keblish, DA Heller*. “Controlled quantum well formation on DNA-wrapped carbon nanotubes via peroxide-mediated aryl diazonium reduction.” Nano Letters (2025); 25(6):2480-2485.
M Kim, JJ McCann, J Fortner, E Randall, C Chen, Y Chen, Z Yaari, Y Wang, RL Koder, DA Heller*. “Quantum defect sensitization via phase-changing supercharged antibody fragments.” ACS Nano (2024) 146(18):12454-12462.
M Kim, D Goerzen, PV Jena, JE Zeng, M Pasquali, RA Meidl, DA Heller*. “Human and Environmental Safety of Carbon Nanotubes Across their Life Cycle.” Nature Reviews Materials 9 (2024) 63-81.
M Kim, C Chen, ZA Yaari, R Frederiksen, E Randall, J Wollowitz, C Cupo, X Wu, J Shah, DW. Worroll, RE Langenbacher, D Goerzen, Y-M Li, H An, Y Wang, DA Heller*. “Nanosensor-Based Monitoring of Autophagy-Associated Lysosomal Acidification In Vivo.” Nature Chemical Biology (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-023-01364-9
RM Williams, S Chen, RE Langenbacher, TV Galassi, JD Harvey, PV Jena, J Budhathoki-Uprety*, M Luo*, DA Heller*. “Harnessing Nanotechnology to Expand the Toolbox of Chemical Biology” Nature Chemical Biology 17 (2021) 129-137. PMID: 33414556
Z Yaari, JM Cheung, HA Baker, RS Frederiksen, PV Jena, F Jiao, S Scheuring, M Luo, DA Heller*. “Nanoreporter of an Enzymatic Suicide Inactivation Pathway” Nano Letters 20 (2020) 7819-7829. PMID: 33119310
TV Galassi, PV Jena, J Shah, G Ao, E Molitor, Y Bram, A Frankel, J Park, J Jessurun, DS Ory, A Haimovitz-Friedman, D Roxbury, J Mittal, M Zheng, R E Schwartz, DA Heller*. “An Optical Nanoreporter of Endolysosomal Lipid Accumulation Reveals Enduring Effects of Diet on Hepatic Macrophages In Vivo.” Science Translational Medicine 10 (2018) eaar2680.
Jena PV, Roxbury D, Galassi TV, Akkari L, Horoszko CP, Iaea DB, Budhathoki-Uprety J, Pipalia N, Haka AS, Harvey JD, Mittal J, Maxfield FR, Joyce JA, Heller DA. A Carbon Nanotube Optical Reporter Maps Endolysosomal Lipid Flux. ACS Nano. 2017 Sep 12. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.7b04743. [Epub ahead of print]
J Budhathoki-Uprety, RE Langenbacher, PV Jena, D Roxbury, DA Heller*: “A Carbon Nanotube Optical Sensor Reports Nuclear Entry via a Noncanonical Pathway.” ACS Nano 11 (2017) 3875-3882.
PV Jena, Y Shamay, J Shah, D Roxbury, N Paknejad, DA Heller*: “Photoluminescent Carbon Nanotubes Interrogate the Permeability of Multicellular Tumor Spheroids.” Carbon 97 (2016) 99-109.
D Roxbury, PV Jena, Y Shamay, CP Horoszko, DA Heller*: “Cell Membrane Proteins Modulate the Carbon Nanotube Optical Bandgap via Surface Charge Accumulation.” ACS Nano 10 (2016) 499-506.
