Supervisors info:
Ερμής Ιατρού, Καθηγητής Τμήμα Χημείας, ΕΚΠΑ
Νεφέλη Λαγοπάτη, Μεταδιδακτορική ερευνήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Διονύσης Ε. Μουζάκης, Συνεργάτης Καθηγητής, ΣΣΕ
Summary:
Successful implementation of the encapsulation and nanoprecipitation approaches leads
to the formation of water-soluble conjugated polymer nanoparticles (CPNs) which have
recently gained considerable attention due to their unique opto-electronic properties.
Their application in the biological field is attributed to their simple synthesis and
purification procedures as well as their advantageous high brightness, excellent
photostability, low cytotoxicity, strong NIR absorbance and versatile functionalization
possibilities. By that means, the near-infrared absorbing conjugated polymers, poly [6,7
diphenyl-4-(4,4,9,9-tetrakis(4-hexylphenyl)-4,9-dihydro-s-indacenol[1,2-b:5,6 b΄] dithio
phen-2-yl)-[1,2,5] thiadiazolo[3,4—g]quinoxaline] (IDTTDQ-Ph) and poly [6,7 diphenyl-4
(4,4,9,9-tetrakis(5-hexylthiophen-2-yl)-4,9-dihydro-s-indacenol[1,2-b:5,6-b΄] di-thiophen
2-yl) [1, 2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4—g]quinoxaline] (IDTTDQ-Th), have been investigated as
contrast agents for photoacoustic bioimaging, an emerging high resolution and deep
penetration depth technique. Lipophilic π-conjugated polymers were efficiently
encapsulated within self-assembling diblock copolymer poly(ethylene glycol) methyl
ether-block-poly( lactide-co-glycolide) (PEG–PLGA) nanoparticles and were characterized
with UV-Vis spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering and z potential, showing the very
promising NIR II absorbance and a biologically acceptable size around 100nm. Lastly, the
photoacoustic signal of the encapsulated IDTTDQ-Th and IDTTDQ-Ph conjugated polymer
nanoparticles was detected.
Keywords:
Conjugated polymers, Nanoparticles, Encapsulation, Photoacoustic imaging
