SBIR-STTR Award

In vivo imaging of cells labeled with fluorescent nanodiamondsFNDsis a new way of monitoring immune cells during cancer immunotherapyFNDs are non toxicinfinitely photostable nanomaterials that are easily conjugated with antibodiesand emit fluorescence in the near infrared spectral regionIn this Phase I SBIRwe will use a murine melanoma model and outline a plan to use FNDs for imaging immunosupressive cell populations as they enter the tumor microenvironment and peripheral tissues during immunotherapyIn Objectivewe will conjugatenm FNDs with antibodies that recognize tumor associated macrophagesTAMmyeloid derived suppressor cellsMDSCand regulatory T cellsT regIn Objectivewe will prepare TAMMDSC and T reg cells and characterize them by flow cytometry using commercial fluorescent antibodiesThe TAMMDSC and T reg will then be used to validate our antibody FND conjugatesIn Objectivewe will prepare FND labeled TAMMDSC and T reg cells ex vivo and fluorescently track these cell populations in melanoma bearing mice receiving placebo or mouse anti PD Lantibodyprogrammed death ligandinhibitorWe will also perform parallel studies where we image antibody FND conjugates that are directly injected through the tail veinOur results will provide tools for predicting the response to immunotherapy