# A surface chemistry guided approach to the rational design of low-energy electron emitting nanomaterials

> **NIH NIH R56** · TUFTS UNIVERSITY MEDFORD · 2020 · $632,142

## Abstract

Project Abstract/Summary
Many aspects of medical imaging and treatment rely on the use of high-energy radiation. For example, X-ray
and γ-ray therapies are common for the treatment of tumors. While effective, healthy tissues are also exposed
to radiation during this type of treatment. Current research efforts to reduce total radiation doses to patients are
focused on delivering radiosensitization materials to cancerous sites. These materials, such as metal
nanoparticles, adsorb more of the radiation locally and spare heathy tissue. Intriguingly, the results of these
experiments indicate that the efficacies of these nanoparticles are higher than would be expected theoretically
from just an increase in radiation adsorption. One attractive, but unproven, explanation is that low-energy
electrons (LEEs) are generated by the radiosensitization materials and most of the local tissue damage is
caused by these LEEs.
In this project, we directly measure LEE emission from known radiosensitizers, which we will correlate to cell
damage. This will be the first-ever direct assessment of the roles of LEEs in radiotherapy, and is enabled by a
new instrument we have developed that can measure both the flux and energy of LEEs induced by X-ray
irradiation or radioactive decay of radioisotope-nanoparticle conjugates. Because LEEs readily cause chemical
reactions such as DNA strand breaks but have an extremely short range in solution, we hypothesize that
targeting LEE-emitting nanoparticles to specific compartments in tumor cells will maximize their effectiveness
while minimizing damage to healthy tissues. Our LEE emission measurements and in vitro experiments will
inform the design of a new generation of targeted nanomaterials with high LEE emission. The best-performing
nanomaterials will subsequently be tested in a mouse model of lung cancer to evaluate in vivo efficacy.
Overall, this project represents the first rational design strategy for maximizing the therapeutic effect of
radiosensitizing nanomaterials.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10204451
- **Project number:** 1R56EB027683-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** TUFTS UNIVERSITY MEDFORD
- **Principal Investigator:** Charles R Mace
- **Activity code:** R56 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $632,142
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-21 → 2022-09-20

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10204451

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10204451, A surface chemistry guided approach to the rational design of low-energy electron emitting nanomaterials (1R56EB027683-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10204451. Licensed CC0.

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