Dr. Vilmantė Žitkutė has joined the ranks of PhDs at the Vilnius University Life Sciences Center (VU LSC). After defending her thesis "Cellular Uptake and Accumulation Studies of Functionalized Upconverting Nanoparticles", she was awarded a PhD in biophysics. Congratulations!
The scientific supervisor is Prof. Dr. Ričardas Rotomskis, National Cancer Institute.
The scientific consultant is Dr. Vitalijus Karabanovas, National Cancer Institute.
The Dissertation Defence Panel is composed of Chairperson Prof. Dr. Osvaldas Rukšėnas (VU LSC), Prof. Dr. Aidas Alaburda (VU LSC), Dr. Agata Mlynska (National Cancer Institute), Dr. Lina Mikoliūnaitė (VU Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences), Dr. Vladimir Sivakov (Leibniz Institute, Germany).
Introduction:
Upconverting nanoparticles are an excellent tool for biomedical applications and can be used in both cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. To increase the biocompatibility of these nanoparticles and to improve their penetration into cancer cells, it is necessary to modify the surface of the nanoparticles with appropriate surface coatings. In addition, the surface coating influences the formation of a protein corona around the particle, which is affected by the mechanisms of endocytosis of cancer cells and the intracellular distribution of particles. This work aims to investigate the interaction of upconverting nanoparticles with different surface coatings in cancer cells and to study the mechanisms of nanoparticle accumulation in cells. The studies show that rare earth metal-upconverting nanoparticles coated with different surface coatings are biocompatible, the protein corona improves the colloidal stability of the nanoparticles, and the surface coatings affect the dynamics of cellular accumulation. Cellular accumulation is also influenced by the cell surface proteome and the protein corona composition formed around the nanoparticles. In addition, the polyethylene glycol content in the surface modifications of the nanoparticles has been observed to be an essential factor for accumulation in cancer cells. A higher polyethylene glycol content in the nanoparticle coating directly correlates with higher accumulation dynamics in cells.