NIR-triggered, on-demand drug delivery using lanthanide-doped upconverting nanolamps

9^th World Congress on Materials Science and Engineering

June 12-14, 2017 Rome, Italy

Ghulam Jalani

Dalhousie University, Canada

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Material Sci Eng

Abstract :

Localized and recurring delivery of drugs in the hour of need is of great importance in many clinical conditions such as in the treatment of solid tumors, post-surgical wounds and localized infections. This helps increase the drug efficacy and minimize the side effects of anesthetics. Lanthanide-doped upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) have emerged as excellent nanotransducers for converting longer wavelength near-infrared (NIR) light to shorter wavelengths spanning the ultraviolet (UV) to the visible (Vis) regions of the spectrum via a multiphoton absorption process, known as upconversion. Here, we report the development of NIR to UVâ��Visâ��NIR UCNPs consisting of LiYF4:Yb3/Tm3@SiO2 individually coated with a 10�±2 nm layer of chitosan (CH) hydrogel cross-linked with a photocleavable cross-linker (PhL). We encapsulated fluorescent-bovine serum albumin (FITC-BSA) inside the gel. Under 980 nm excitation, the upconverted UV emission cleaves the PhL cross-links and instantaneously liberates the FITC-BSA under 2 cm thick tissue. The release is immediately arrested if the excitation source is switched off. The upconverted NIR light allows for the tracking of particles under the tissue. Nucleus pulposus (NP) cells cultured with UCNPs are viable both in the presence and in the absence of laser irradiation. Controlled drug delivery of large biomolecules and deep tissue imaging make this system an excellent theranostic platform for tissue engineering, biomapping, and cellular imaging applications.

Biography :

Email: ghulam.jalani@dal.ca