The capability to analyze cellular uptake of physiological and pharmacological compounds with increasing
sensitivity and temporal resolution plays a critical role in understanding the underlying molecular pathways
involved in human diseases and disorders. Radioisotopes (RI) facilitate highly sensitive detection of these
analytes, with minimal perturbation of analyte mass and structure, compared to fluorescent labels and other
molecular tags. β-particle emitters, including 32P, 33P, 35S, and 3H are commonly used as biological tracers due
to the prevalence of these atoms in biological molecules.
Despite the advent of new molecular analysis approaches, RI remain the gold standard in a wide range of high
sensitivity, quantitative biological, chemical and environmental studies. RI labels have played a critical role in the
investigation of biological systems, for almost a century. Furthermore, improved detection capabilities that enable
a broader application of RI detection to new biomedical research questions should prove transformational in high
sensitivity biomolecular analyses.
In this SBIR application, we propose to continue development of proprietary, IP-protected, innovative core-shell
nanomaterials capable of molecularly selective detection of low energy RIs directly in aqueous samples. These
nanomaterials will be demonstrated for sensitive binding assays with GPCRs embedded in native membrane
compositions, providing the receptor with a native membrane environment and yielding a more complete picture
of protein functionality. Such measurements would seed new research investigations and would position
Scintillation Nanotechnologies INC as a provider of revolutionary tools for small molecule binding and drug
screening.