Development of fluorescence activatable nanosensors

In this poster, unique nanobioconjugation techniques to produce targeted nanoprobes with high fluorescence activation, establishing a highly enhanced fluorescence sensor system are presented. By diversifying conjugation styles to the AuNP surface, a ratio of targeting agents and dyes can be achieved for 100 time fold activation. Conjugation of fluorescence dyes for quenching is dependent on access to the AuNP surface. It is shown that AuNPs synthesized in organic solvents allow for a high ratio of ligand exchange which can then immediately be dispersed in aqueous solutions. The techniques proposed here, along with functionalization with targeting groups, can therefore be used for high signal amplification in biosensing. It is hypothesized that the design of an activatable, fluorescent nanoparticle for measuring disease biomarkers will allow for ultrasensitive, early, and point-of-care detection with high specificity and sensitivity.