{"678571":{"#nid":"678571","#data":{"type":"news","title":" Douglas-Green Lab Advancing Nanoparticle Research for Drug Delivery","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESimone Douglas-Green, an asst. professor at the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, has recently been awarded the 2024 Sloan Scholars Mentoring Network (SSMN) seed grant.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EThis $10,000 award, the first independent funding for the Douglas-Green lab, will support her research on protein coronas \u2014 protein complexes that form when proteins are absorbed to the surface of nanoparticles.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re excited about receiving the grant,\u201d said Douglas-Green. \u201cSloan was integral to my career as a Ph.D. student, and now the SSMN Seed Grant is a catalyst for our research group\u2019s first project.\u201d\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EThe grant was established specifically to support research. But the SSMN program, formed through a collaboration between the Social Science Research Council and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, does more than offer grants. It also provides workshops, mentoring, and networking opportunities to support scholars in their academic journey.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EWith this grant, the Douglas-Green lab will address the challenge of isolating and characterizing protein coronas on nanoparticles, particularly small ones like polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers, a class of nanoparticles which hold significant potential for drug delivery.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u201cHaving the right tools and techniques to accurately study bio-nano interactions will make this endeavor possible, and our new group will be at the forefront in developing them,\u201d said Douglas-Green.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EWhat sets her research apart is her lab\u2019s use of the electrophoresis process to characterize protein coronas. Building on her post-doctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Douglas-Green\u2019s lab is employing a nondenaturing electrophoresis technique combined with mass spectrometry to separate and identify these tiny protein coronas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EElectrophoresis is a lab technique used to separate molecules, like proteins, based on their size and charge, helping scientists understand the composition and behavior of these proteins. When an electric current is applied, proteins move through a gel at different speeds depending on their size and charge, so researchers can analyze the types of proteins involved. The technique can be used to study nanoparticle-protein complexes on nanoparticles with smaller sizes and densities in ways that existing methods, like centrifugation or dynamic light scattering, cannot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDouglas-Green\u2019s lab has turned the challenges of nanoparticle-protein separation into an opportunity for innovation. By avoiding the use of SDS, a common detergent that interferes with PEG (a polymer that makes nanoparticles more compatible with the body), they found a way to better characterize protein coronas on PEG-coated nanocarriers.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EThe separation technique developed by Douglas-Green\u2019s lab ensured compatibility with the surface chemistry of dendrimers, a priority as the research team continues advancing nanoparticle separation techniques.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u201cOur engineering goal is to develop tools and techniques to study protein coronas on various types of nanoparticles,\u201d said Douglas-Green. \u201cUsing these tools, we can uncover some biological questions to understand person- or disease-specific protein coronas.\u201d\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EThe work is part of a broader effort to build a toolkit of techniques for scientists to better understand bio-nanoparticles interactions\u2013leading to more targeted nanoparticle-based treatments and therapeutics.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u201cFor me, this is more than seed funding to pursue science,\u201d Douglas-Green said. \u201cThis is funding the start of a dream realized!\u201d\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBME assistant professor using Sloan Scholars Mentoring Network seed grant to support her lab\u0027s work\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"BME assistant professor using Sloan Scholars Mentoring Network seed grant to support her lab\u0027s work"}],"uid":"36454","created_gmt":"2024-11-20 18:35:50","changed_gmt":"2024-11-20 18:36:35","author":"swilliamson40","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2024-10-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-10-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"675684":{"id":"675684","type":"image","title":"simone-douglas-green_0.png","body":null,"created":"1732127758","gmt_created":"2024-11-20 18:35:58","changed":"1732127758","gmt_changed":"2024-11-20 18:35:58","alt":"SDG","file":{"fid":"259336","name":"simone-douglas-green_0.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/11\/20\/simone-douglas-green_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/11\/20\/simone-douglas-green_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1100158,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/11\/20\/simone-douglas-green_0.png?itok=SwOyBsAp"}}},"media_ids":["675684"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/news\/douglas-green-lab-advancing-nanoparticle-research-drug-delivery","title":""}],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBy Yanet Chernet\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EContact:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kelly.petty@bme.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKelly Petty\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003ECommunications\u003Cbr\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}