Mimetoli 1

Mimetoli 1

Justin A. Kaskow, DongSoo Yun, Paula T. Hammond

Koch Institute at MIT

These images were taken as part of a Footbridge project that was initiated to design a nanoparticle delivery system that could deliver this immunotheraputic protein inside of ovarian cancer cells and then test the therapeutic efficacy of these nanoparticles in models of ovarian cancer. This image gives a window into the nanoparticle development process, showing an early failed attempt to design a nanoparticles that can train the immune system to eliminate ovarian cancer. Prototype nanoparticles could effectively deliver a therapeutic protein inside cells in a dish to activate an immune response, but were not stable enough to be of use in a patient. This image is a collage of false colored TEM migrographs depicting these unstable nanoparticles. Hundreds of nanoparticles clump together to form large aggregates, a phenomenon colloquially called "crashing out" by scientists. 

Nine panel grid of multi-colored islands of clumps in a sea of grey.

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