Jeremy Grant
Research Interests
The objective of this study is to design a nanoparticle labeling system suited for enhanced Raman micro-spectroscopic imaging to directly probe the concentration, chemical dynamics, and spatial distribution of individual Raman active nanoprobes at nanometer length scales in biological systems. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), using specifically engineered spherical metallic nanoprobes for chemical sensing, has received considerable attention recently. It is considered a powerful alternative to fluorescence labeling, offering several advantages over traditional methods, including increased photostability, narrower emission peaks, allowing for simultaneous observation of a larger number of “channels”, and ease of bioconjugation. Unfortunately, most existing nanoparticle geometries require mean diameters on the order of 50-80 nm to provide single particle signals comparable to those observed via competitive fluorescence methods. We propose to investigate a new nanoparticle geometry based on a star-shaped architecture which shows further enhancement over spherical particles. We further propose to create 10 spectrally distinct Raman active nanostars, overcoming the channel limitations encountered using standard fluorescence labeling methods. We will also develop the enhanced software required to obtain and analyze the Raman signal data by improving the computational efficiency of our current scanning software while adding spectral multiplexing algorithms.
Selected Publications
- Caddle, L.B., Grant, J.L., van Hase, J., Denegre, J., Shirley, B.J., Bewersdorf, J., Cremer, C., Arneodo, A., Khalil, A., Mills, K.D. (2007) Heterologous chromosome territory neighborhoods promote translocation susceptibility in primary lymphocytes. Chromosome Research 15:1061-1073
- Khalil, A., Grant, J.L., Caddle, L.B., Atzema, E., Mills K.D., Arneodo, A. (2007) Chromosome territories have a highly non-spherical morphology and non-random positioning. Chromosome Research 15:899-916
- Grant, J., Verrill, C., Coustham, V., Arneodo, A., Palladino, F., Monier, K., Khalil, A. (2010). Perinuclear distribution of heterochromatin in developing C. elegans embryos. Chromosome Research 18(8): 873-885.
- Edward S. Allgeyer, Gray A. Craig, Sanjeev K. Kandpal, Jeremy Grant, and Michael D. Mason. Gold Nanoparticles, Introduction to Experimental Biophysics: Biological Methods for Physical Scientists, CRC Press (2011).
- Anna Sitarski, Jeremy Grant, Sanjeev Kumar Kandpal, and Michael D. Mason. Diagnostics & treatments, Emerging Applications of Colloidal Noble Metals in Cancer Nanomedicine, Future Medicine (2012).
- Anna Sitarski; Sanjeev K. Kandpal; Jeremy Grant; Andrew Doolittle; Matthew Newsom; Michael D. Mason. Engineered Gold Nanoparticles as Contrast Agents for Biological and Medical Imaging, Handbook of Nanobiomedical Research (2014)
