Desenvolvimento de nanopartículas luminescentes de fosfato de cálcio amorfo para aplicação em Nanomedicina

• Grant number: 21/03559-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2021
• End date: May 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials
• Principal Investigator: Valtencir Zucolotto
• Grantee: Carlos Eduardo Zanardo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/50947-7 - INCT 2014: in Stem Cell and Cell Therapy, AP.TEM

Abstract

Calcium phosphates (CaPs) are biomaterials with high biocompatibility, are considered ideal for the treatment of bones and teeth and in tissue engineering. In the form of nanoparticles (NPs), CaPs have been attracting attention in nanomedicine, highlighting the use of hydroxyapatite (HA) in diagnostic medicine via fluorescence imaging - a low-cost, non-invasive diagnostic option. The known methods for optimizing the photoluminescent properties of CaPs for these purposes are based on combining them with organic fluorophores, via doping with lanthanide ions or by making composites with other inorganic nanomaterials, including quantum dots of metallic chalcogenides. Conversely, the manipulation of defects and impurities in the CaPs is an innovative alternative that is still less explored with the potential to obtain systems with high biocompatibility, lower costs, simpler preparations, and with superior photoluminescent properties. In this sense, this project aims to obtain NPs of amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) by chemical precipitation and with optimized photoluminescence by incorporating carbon impurities in the form of carbonate groups (CO32-) and modifying them with subsequent heat treatments. As in the case of HA, ACP consists of a material with potential application in nanomedicine, but with simpler and faster preparation. However, the optimization of its photoluminescent properties is a current challenge in the area. The obtained ACP NPs will be characterized as to their structural, compositional, morphological, and optical properties. This project is inserted in a border area of nanomedicine with the potential to contribute to the advancement of diagnostic imaging techniques for different diseases, such as cancer. (AU)