Professor Ljiljana Fruk has been studying the design principles and biomedical applications of organic and hybrid nanomaterials. These can be used for real-time detection of senescent cells in the body.
Large concentrations of senescent cells in an organ might be a precursor to cancer, and so detecting these cells in the body might help early cancer detection, opening the way for treatment to be started earlier and be more effective. Furthermore, the continued monitoring of senescent cells can be useful during post-chemotherapy treatment, to understand whether therapy is working.
Professor Fruk has been working with organic NanoJAGGs nanoparticles, which are fluorescent and also suitable for photo-acoustic imaging. Once injected, these particles tend to be absorbed by the senescent cells in the body, which then become easier to detect.
In particular, work has been done to find a new way of detecting senescent cells in the lungs, which may be a precursor to lung cancer. Professor Fruk’s group have identified the appropriate biomarker, and then developed a probe small enough that it can go through the kidney and be detected in a urine sample.
In addition to helping detect senescent cells in the body, nanoparticles may also be used as nano-carriers when developing the next generation of drug delivery systems. The nanoparticles may in fact be designed so that they only deliver the drug to the target part of the body, without affecting all other organs.
You can find more information about Professor Fruk’s work here.