Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA.
Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7030, Trondheim, Norway.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2017 Mar 6;56(11):2923-2926. doi: 10.1002/anie.201611288. Epub 2017 Jan 23.
Understanding the formation process of nanoparticles is of the utmost importance to improve their design and production. This especially holds true for self-assembled nanoparticles whose formation processes have been largely overlooked. Herein, we present a new technology that integrates a microfluidic-based nanoparticle synthesis method and Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) microscopy imaging to visualize nanoparticle self-assembly in real time. Applied to different nanoparticle systems, for example, nanoemulsions, drug-loaded block-copolymer micelles, and nanocrystal-core reconstituted high-density lipoproteins, we have shown the approach's unique ability to investigate key parameters affecting nanoparticle formation.
了解纳米粒子的形成过程对于改进其设计和生产至关重要。对于自组装纳米粒子来说尤其如此，因为其形成过程在很大程度上被忽视了。在此，我们提出了一种新技术，该技术集成了基于微流控的纳米粒子合成方法和Förster 共振能量转移（FRET）显微镜成像，以实时可视化纳米粒子的自组装。将该方法应用于不同的纳米粒子体系，例如纳米乳液、载药嵌段共聚物胶束和纳米晶核再构成的高密度脂蛋白，我们已经证明了该方法具有独特的能力，可以研究影响纳米粒子形成的关键参数。
