MIT Engineers Boost Signals From Fluorescent Sensors – Offering Unique Glimpse Inside Living Cells

MIT engineers found a way to dramatically improve the signal emitted by fluorescing nanosenors. The researchers showed they could implant sensors as deep as 5.5 centimeters in tissue and still get a strong signal. Credit: Courtesy of the researchers and edited by MIT News

According to the researchers, this type of technology might allow fluorescent sensors to be used to track specific molecules inside the brain or other tissues deep within the body, for medical diagnosis or monitoring drug effects. “All tissues autofluoresce, and this becomes a limiting factor,” Koman says. “As the signal from the sensor becomes weaker and weaker, it becomes overtaken by the tissue autofluorescence.”

One possible application for this kind of sensing is to monitor the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs. To demonstrate this potential, the researchers focused on glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain cancer. Patients with this type of cancer usually undergo surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible, then receive the chemotherapy drug temozolomide to try to eliminate any remaining cancer cells.

When temozolomide enters the body, it gets broken down into smaller compounds, including one known as AIC. The MIT team designed a sensor that could detect AIC, and showed that they could implant it as deep as 5.5 centimeters within an animal brain. They were able to read the signal from the sensor even through the animal’s skull.

Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)

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