Drug development often begins with a probe or assay that allows researchers to rapidly screen for drug molecules that produce a therapeutic effect. We are designing nano-scale probes and sensors that detect important molecules within live cells and tissues. These sensors enable new types of measurements to greatly facilitate drug development, and they allow researchers to ask unprecedented questions, accelerating biomedical discoveries. 

News

Nano-Sensors Taste Fat in Live Cells

The Inner Light: Nanotechnology Reveals Density of Tumors

Publications

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]

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.

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.