Prof. Teri Odom, Northwestern UniversityGold nanostars as tiny hitchhikers for cancer therapeuticsSchool ColloquiumNanotechnology offers new strategies for minimally invasive and localized approaches to diagnose and treat cancer. Recently, nanoparticles (NPs) have been explored in a range of applications, including drug delivery vehicles, imaging contrast probes, and therapeutic agents. However, although increased therapeutic efficacy has been realized, direct visualization of how NPs interact with specific organelles has not been reported. How NPs interact with the cell nucleus, for example, will have implications not only for the fundamentals of cancer biology but also for the design of translational therapeutic agents. This talk will describe how drug-loaded gold nanostars can be transported to the cell nucleus and induce changes in nuclear phenotype. The gold nanoconstructs were trafficked to the nucleus via the shuttling protein nucleolin, which is also a biomarker for cancer cells. Using ultrafast laser light, we detached the drugs from the gold nanostar surface for delivery of the aptamers into the nucleus. Surprisingly, we found that changes in the shape of the nucleus could be correlated with the biological response of the treated cancer cells. Prospects for whether this nanoconstruct and the nucleolin biomarker can be used as a general approach to deliver drugs to a wide variety of carcinomas in vitro will be discussed.For more information contact Prof. Christine Payne (404-385-3125) or Prof. Rigoberto Hernandez (404-894-0594).Website:  Teri Odom