Protein‐facilitated gold nanoparticle formation as indicators of ionizing radiation
Abstract
The use of X‐ray radiation in radiotherapy is a common treatment for many cancers. Despite several scientific advances, determination of radiation delivered to the patient remains a challenge due to the inherent limitations of existing dosimeters including fabrication and operation. Here, we describe a colorimetric nanosensor that exhibits unique changes in color as a function of therapeutically relevant radiation dose (3–15 Gy). The nanosensor is formulated using a gold salt and maltose‐binding protein as a templating agent, which upon exposure to ionizing radiation is converted to gold nanoparticles. The formation of gold nanoparticles from colorless precursor salts renders a change in color that can be observed visually. The dose‐dependent multicolored response was quantified through a simple ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometer and the peak shift associated with the different colored dispersions was used as a quantitative indicator of therapeutically relevant radiation doses. The ease of fabrication, visual color changes upon exposure to ionizing radiation, and quantitative read‐out demonstrates the potential of protein‐facilitated biomineralization approaches to promote the development of next‐generation detectors for ionizing radiation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Sep 23, 2019
- Source ID
- 10.1002/bit.27163
Entities
People
- Amar Thaker
- Brent Nannenga
- Karthik Pushpavanam
- Kaushal Rege
- Stephen Sapareto
- Tomasz Bista
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Arizona State University