# Nanoparticle Intervention in Cell Behavior

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN · 2021 · $298,690

## Abstract

Nanoparticle Intervention in Cell Behavior: Summary/Abstract
Colloidal nanoparticles (NPs) are of great interest as diagnostics, imaging agents, drug
delivery vehicles, and therapeutics. Gold NPs are an important class of these materials
due to their brilliant optical and photothermal properties. Most NP-cell studies focus on
NP killing or targeting (with surface ligands) various cells, although recent controversies
in the literature suggest that targeting does not work. Gene expression profiles of
various cells, as a function of NP dose, are commonly reported. Still unanswered is the
question of exactly how, at the molecular level, NPs affect cellular behavior and cellular
function, especially in the absence of (or biomolecular corona covering up of) targeting
ligands. The three Specific Aims below propose three different mechanisms of how NPs
can intervene in cell behavior, across a variety of cell types to show generality. In Aim 1,
the hypothesis is that NPs sequester biomolecules from the cellular milieu, making these
biomolecules less bioavailable to the cell and thereby alter cellular behavior. The
experiments in this Aim focus on cellular migration as a function of chemoattractant
concentration in three-dimensional matrices; measurements of cellular migration ability
as a function of chemoattractant loss via adsorption to NPs will be undertaken. In Aim 2,
the hypothesis is that cellular unfolded protein response to NP exposure is directly
correlated to the amount of unfolded proteins that the NPs display on their surfaces.
The experiments in this Aim focus on a mass spectral footprinting technique to infer
protein display on NP/biological samples that are known to upregulate, or not upregulate,
the unfolded protein response in cells. In Aim 3, the hypothesis is that NPs bind to
exosomes, small extracellular vesicles that are believed to be important in intercellular
communication. The experiments in this Aim focus on in vitro measures of exosome
binding or bursting to a library of nanoparticles.!

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10127657
- **Project number:** 5R01GM125845-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
- **Principal Investigator:** Catherine J. MURPHY
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $298,690
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-06-01 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10127657

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10127657, Nanoparticle Intervention in Cell Behavior (5R01GM125845-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10127657. Licensed CC0.

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