Development of Near-infrared (NIR) Fluorescent Probes for Light-induced Biomedical Application

About the Project

Our group develops target-specific photoinduced stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems using small organic molecules, nanoparticles, and polymeric micelles. We try to design drug delivery systems targeted at specific diseased sites, causing minimum harm to healthy tissues, based on specific receptors on the cell membrane, e.g., overexpression of folic acid and biotin receptors on cancer cell membranes, as well as cellular microenvironments like pH, redox nature, and presence of excess metal ions. Further, regulated fluorescent properties of the designed drug delivery system can be utilized for real-time monitoring of drug action. Thus, we aim to design fluorescent organic probes for detecting specific microenvironments in the body and providing naked eye visualization of drug action. The near-infrared (NIR) spectral region is best suited for biomedical applications because it has the highest deep tissue penetration ability. Hence, we target NIR fluorescent organic probes for photoinduced drug delivery, photodynamic therapy (PDT), and photothermal therapy (PTT).

Department and Campus

Department of Chemistry, School of Physical Science, Amritapuri

Skillsets Preferred from Applicants

1. A Basic idea of organic synthesis,
2. Basic spectroscopic analysis e.g. 1H NMR, 13C NMR, UV, IR;
3. Knowledge of fluorescence and photochemistry