Bioengineering Seminar: Understanding nanoparticle interactions with cells and cell colonies Event

- Time:
- 12:00 - 13:00
- Date:
- 13 May 2016
- Venue:
- University of Southampton, Highfield Campus, Building 85, Room 2207
For more information regarding this event, please email Dario Carugo or Adam Corres at IfLSAdmin@soton.ac.uk .
Event details
Presented by Professor Huw Summers of Swansea University.


Abstract: The interaction of nanoparticles with single cells has been widely studied, with the influence of particle physio-chemistry and biological membrane function well recorded. The core interest of our research group at Swansea is in how these processes vary from cell to cell and how this heterogeneity determines the nanoparticle uptake and effect at the population level. In this talk I will present an overview of our work using fluorescent nanoparticles (QDots) together with high throughput, automated imaging to quantitatively assess the variation of nanoparticle dose across cells. I will show that through the use of probabilistic statistics we can accurately predict cellular dose and its dilution through cell proliferation. I will also present an analysis of the role of the cell colony on particle uptake and show that the local environment of a cell and in particular its spatial relation to neighbours is the critical determinant of nanoparticle accumulation.
Title image credit: Alan Handyside, Wellcome Images - Mouse Blastocyst showing inner cell mass. Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence.
Inset image credit: Dr David Becker, Wellcome Images - Confocal image of a human cell. Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence.
Speaker information
Professor Huw Summers ,Centre for Nanohealth, Engineering, Swansea University,Specialist Subjects: Nanomedicine, Optical Techniques for Biomedicine, Cytometry, Nanoparticle Fluorophores. For further information on Professor Summers’ research visit www.systemscytometry.org