DELOS (Delayed Luminescence for Optical Screening)

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Abstract:

Early diagnosis of cancer is fundamental in determining appropriate therapeutic treatments. For this reason the techniques for early detection and diagnosis of cancer are actively studied. In particular, by optical biopsy it could be possible to evaluate, without any surgical removal, tha nature of tissues, and gather information on cancer progression and invasiveness. Delayed luminescence (DL) seems to be, according to the Literature, an excellent candidate for developing an optical biopsy technique. The DL, recently explained as due to the excitation and following decay of collective states excited inside biological polymeric chains, has a spectral emission lying in the optical range. Within the project aimed to study the role of TfR1 in the progression of thyroid tumors,we will perform the characterization, through DL on in-vitro models of thyroid tumors. Delayed luminescence measurements will be carried out on cell cultures of thyroid cancer at different levels of invasiveness. Follicular adenoma (KAK-1), and various carcinomas (MRO-87, WRO-82, NPA87, KAT-10, DRO-90, ARO-81, KAT-4, and KAT-18) will be used. Studies will be made on these cell cultures both in order to overexpress TFR1 receptor and with siRNA. Physical parameters characterizing the single spectral decay will be correlated to the biochemical and physiological data, with the aim to develop a strategy of data analysis and to evaluate the possibility of using this technique as an optical biopsy one.