| RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS |
Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria, which has advanced antibiotic resistance mechanisms. Chang explains that CDy11 can be used to
show where bacteria are hiding and, therefore, which sites to treat. Since amyloid is such a fundamental structure in biofilms, he predicts that CDy11 may have broad applicability. His
team has already confirmed that CDy11 can detect biofilms of several strains of bacteria. “Currently, there is no direct method
to detect or visualize biofilms, so diagnosis is also extremely difficult. Our CDy11 is the first probe to solve the problem,” notes Chang. His team is currently identifying
probes to mark other biofilm components and widen the toolbox for biofilm detection.
1. Kim, J.-Y, Sahu, S., Yau, Y.-H., Wang, X., Shochat, S. G. et al. Detection of pathogenic biofilms with bacterial amyloid targeting fluorescent probe, CDy11. Journal of the American Chemical Society 138, 402–407 (2016).
Nanomaterials:
The image shows nanoparticles accumulating into the tumor. Light is then used to irradiate the nanoparticles to induce singlet oxygen genera- tion from the photosensitive drugs attached to the nanoparticles, which kill the tumor without affecting the other healthy cells.
SMART MATERIAL HUNTS CANCERS
THE PURSUIT OF MICROSCOPIC DRUGS THAT CAN BE TRACKED AS THEY FIGHT CANCER IS A STEP CLOSER
Microscopic drug molecules could soon be sent into the body to fight disease and their journey tracked using photoacoustic imaging, after researchers developed a smart material that can locate and image cancer sites inside tissues1. A team from the A*STAR Singapore
1O2 3O2
Bioimaging Consortium and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has developed a ‘nanophotonics platform’ that measures changes in the local tissue environ- ment at the site of a tumor or cancer, by meas- uring enzyme reactions specific to the cancer. This nanophotonics platform includes a promising compound for increasing the
www.astar-research.com A*STAR RESEARCH 27
© 2016 A*STAR Singapore Bioimaging Consortium
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