Project GoldInLens

PROJECT NUMBER: 5

AUTHOR: Claire Bailey, Chemical and Biological Engineering | MENTOR: Anuj Chauhan, Chemical and Biological Engineering

ABSTRACT

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Ophthalmic cystinosis is an uncommon disease that causes the buildup if cystine crystals in the eyes of those affected. The current treatment involves the frequent application of cysteamine-loaded eye drops—an inconvenient and unsatisfactory solution. The purpose of Project GoldInLens is to develop a contact lens-based solution containing gold nanoparticles that react with the cystine crystals and remove them from the eye via cleavage of disulfide bonds, thanks to the high stability of the gold-sulfur bond. For this project, an optimized version of the Turkevich method for gold nanoparticle synthesis was used to reduce gold chloride ions into a species that will react with cysteine. The nanoparticles were characterized by DLS, zeta potential and hydrodynamic diameter. It was also discovered that integrating these nanoparticles into a PVA-based enables a mechanically strong and biodegradable hydrogel for lens formation. The particle size of these GNPs was determined to be approximately 10nm-1 micron, depending on the synthesis conditions. Gold nanoparticle-loaded lenses were tested in vitro to uptake about 15 micrograms of cystine.

VISUAL PRESENTATION

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Sponsored by Phillips 66