Drug delivery and imaging

We are developing novel solutions from porous silicon for cancer therapy. Currently, we are working on several projects that are briefly described below.

  1. Nanotheranostics based on light (LIGTHER). In the project, an integrated system for nanoparticles-based photothermal therapy and optical tomography is designed and constructed. The idea is to develop affordable and safe instrumentation for simultaneous cancer therapy and diagnosis. To achieve the project aim, black porous silicon (BPSi) nanoparticles absorbing infrared light effectively were designed and prepared. The BPSi nanoparticles not only have excellent photothermal properties surpassing the most common inorganic photothermal conversion agents (PCAs), such as gold (Au), Fe3O4 and carbon nanotubes (CNT) but also possess a good biodegradability which is usually not observed with inorganic PCAs. The collaborators of this research are King’s College London and The Fourth Military Medical University.
  1. Hyperpolarized Si nanoparticles for low field MRI (HyPSi). The project is aimed to develop a methodology for the hyperpolarization of porous silicon nanoparticles and optimizing both the particle design and polarization conditions for generating maximal signal intensity and duration. High and long-lasting polarization is planned to be achieved with PSi nanoparticles by optimizing the concentration of stable radicals and doping levels, which both can be controlled by fabrication methods, surface modifications and morphology of the particles. The particle surface will be further modified with e.g. biopolymers to make them ready for studies of cerebral blood flow in normal conditions as well as in conditions where it is hampered by e.g. ischaemic or near-ischaemic conditions in rat neurological model. The collaborator for this research is A.I Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland.
  1. Biomimetic nanoparticles for targeted cancer theranostics. Cell membrane coating nanotechnology, which endows nanoparticles with unique properties such as immune escaping, long blood circulation, and active cancer targeting, offers a promising nanoplatform for the next generation of cancer treatment. In this project, we aim to develop cell membrane coated biomimetic porous silicon nanoparticles for targeted cancer theranostics. The porous silicon will load different agents for cancer diagnosis (e.g., A single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT), photoacoustic imaging (PAI), and fluorescence imaging) and therapy (e.g., photothermal therapy (PTT) and chemotherapy). The collaborator of the project is from A.I Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland.