Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy for detection and quantification of polymer nano-particlestextMilovanovic, KostacreatorMathiowitz, EdithAdvisorFurtado, StaciaReaderSobieraj, AndreaReaderBrown University. Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology and Biotechnologysponsor2019ix, 61 p.born digitalThesis (Sc. M.)--Brown University, 2019thesesOral delivery of biologics is an extremely researched topic due to its possible benefits. One of the common ways to achieving this goal is by encapsulating proteins and nucleotides inside polymeric nanoparticles, which would protect the drug, and delivery it to its target location. Therefore, confirming nanoparticle presence within cells, and calculating bioavailability of nanoparticles is important to furthering research into this topic. Currently, most methods for identifying and quantifying nanoparticle presence within tissue are either cost prohibitive or time consuming. A novel approach to solving issues related to detection and quantification is the implementation of an FTIR spectrometer. The process of analyzing samples through a spectrometer is quick, simple and cheap. By creating control samples of tissue and polymer spectrums, and then combining samples to see if polymers could be identified within tissue ex-vivo, this research was successfully able to identify nanoparticles within tissue samples using an FTIR. Building upon that, calibration curves were made using the same ex-vivo approach, which were utilized within in-vivo experiments to successfully calculate bioavailability of nanoparticles fed to live rats. Ultimately, this project showed the viability of using an FTIR spectrometer to identify polymeric nanoparticles within tissue, and calculate the bioavailability of those nanoparticles.NanoparticlesPolymeric drug delivery systemsFourier transform infrared spectroscopyEnglishRPB2019060310.26300/qemg-az38In CopyrightAll rights reserved. Collection is open to the Brown community for research.