Neurotransmitter Specific, Cellular-Resolution Functional Brain Mapping Using Receptor Coated Nanoparticles: Assessment of the Possibility

Receptor coated resonant nanoparticles and quantum dots are proposed to provide a cellular-level resolution image of neural activities inside the brain. The functionalized nanoparticles and quantum dots in this approach will selectively bind to different neurotransmitters in the extra-synaptic regio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPloS one Vol. 10; no. 12; p. e0145852
Main Authors Forati, Ebrahim, Sabouni, Abas, Ray, Supriyo, Head, Brian, Schoen, Christian, Sievenpiper, Dan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Public Library of Science 30.12.2015
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects
Alzheimer's disease
Animals
Applied physics
Brain
Brain mapping
Brain Mapping - methods
Care and treatment
Computer engineering
Computer Systems
Dielectric properties
Dopamine
Dopamine - metabolism
Dosage and administration
Emission spectra
gamma-Aminobutyric Acid - metabolism
Glycine
Glycine - metabolism
Gold
Humans
Mapping
Medical imaging
Metal Nanoparticles - ultrastructure
Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
Models, Neurological
Nanoparticles
Nanorods
Nanotubes - ultrastructure
Neurotransmitter Agents - metabolism
Neurotransmitters
Optics
Parkinson disease
Photonics
Quality
Quantum dots
Quantum Dots - ultrastructure
Receptors
Receptors, Neurotransmitter - metabolism
Risk factors
Spectrophotometry
Tomography
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Summary:Receptor coated resonant nanoparticles and quantum dots are proposed to provide a cellular-level resolution image of neural activities inside the brain. The functionalized nanoparticles and quantum dots in this approach will selectively bind to different neurotransmitters in the extra-synaptic regions of neurons. This allows us to detect neural activities in real time by monitoring the nanoparticles and quantum dots optically. Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) with two different geometries (sphere and rod) and quantum dots (QDs) with different sizes were studied along with three different neurotransmitters: dopamine, gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), and glycine. The absorption/emission spectra of GNPs and QDs before and after binding of neurotransmitters and their corresponding receptors are reported. The results using QDs and nanorods with diameter 25nm and aspect rations larger than three were promising for the development of the proposed functional brain mapping approach.
Bibliography:Conceived and designed the experiments: EF DS . Performed the experiments: SR CS. Analyzed the data: EF AS DS. Wrote the paper: EF AS SR. Supervised the study: DS BH. Reviewed the manuscript: EF AS SR BH CS DS .
Competing Interests: One of the authors, Christian Schoen, is CEO of Nanopartz Inc. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0145852