Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by dysregulated production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), driving oxidative stress and subsequent neuronal degeneration. Antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) play a central role in maintaining redox homeostasis; however, their activity is compromised in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. Although small molecules have been developed in the past to mitigate oxidative stress, their clinical translation has been limited by poor blood-brain barrier permeability and suboptimal drug-like properties. In this work, we present a multi-step synthetic strategy for a pyridine-based tetra-aza macrocycle designed to improve blood–brain barrier permeability while retaining multi-target antioxidant activity.

Alkyl phosphate surfactants were synthesized for the development of a dendricore micelle as a potential drug delivery platform. Conventional surfactant micelles often dissociate under physiological dilution due to their high critical micelle concentrations, limiting their utility. To address this limitation, a dendrimer scaffold templated by surfactants is being constructed through reaction of an amine with succinic anhydride followed by iterative Boc deprotection and carbodiimide coupling. This architecture is expected to enhance micelle stability and support dual-drug delivery.

Our project focuses on Europium-doped Cerium Oxide nanotubes and their use as potential probes for bioimaging and optical sensors. Most CeO2 nanomaterials are not intrinsically fluorescent in the visible region, so these materials can be doped with rare earth ions that possess visible fluorescence. Rare earth ions that prefer the +3 oxidation state can be efficiently doped into CeO2 nanomaterials due to their similar ionic radii. Our research utilizes Europium (III) for doping, which is known for its red-orange emission and hypersensitive 5D0→7F2 transition. We choose a one-dimensional architecture for the target nanostructure because of its ideal geometry to interact with cells. A sacrificial template is employed, beginning with the synthesis of Zinc Oxide nanowires on an FTO substrate. After the nanowires are grown, a Europium (III) - Cerium (III) cycling process is performed to construct the nanotube, using the nanowire as a template.
The size and morphology of the nanotubes are measured using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). The crystalline structure of the Europium-doped CeO2 nanotubes can be characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) to determine how varying Eu3+ concentration can change the XRD peaks. Their photoluminescence (PL) spectra are measured as a function of varying the percentage concentration of Eu3+. Light emission is compared as a function of dopant concentration by varying the Eu3+ concentration between 5%-15% to determine the concentration with the optimal fluorescence intensity. Ultimately, the desired characteristic fluorescence of the nanotubes enables their use in bioimaging and as optical sensors.

Every 65 seconds, someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, which is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. A major barrier to potential therapeutics is the permeability of these molecules across the blood-brain barrier. We have developed small molecules with strong reactivity to combat the oxidative stress known to cause Alzheimer’s disease. However, the permeability is less than ideal. As a result, my goal is to produce a molecule that has enhanced permeability but retains the reactivity of the parent molecules. To achieve this, the BOILED-Egg model was used to assess different derivatives of our parent molecule, Py2N2. This model showed the differences in lipophilicity among different Py2N2 compounds and how they impact permeability into the blood-brain barrier and gastrointestinal tract. Background information on our parent molecule and its function regarding Alzheimer's development will be outlined to give a scope of what these compounds can target and how they function. Compounds with high lipophilicity reflected in the model will have schemes of synthetic synthesis for future directions.

The binding of the water-soluble porphyrin tetrasodium tetraphenylporphyrintetrasulfonate (TPPS) to bovine serum albumin (BSA) in aqueous media at room temperature can be explored for developing an analytical assay for PFAS (or “forever chemicals”) detection. Indeed, we determined that spectrophotometric detection of PFAS is optimized by exploiting competitive binding of PFAS and TPPS to BSA at pH 4.7. In this poster, we spectrophotometrically investigated BSA-TPPS binding at pH 3.0, 4.7, and 7.2. Specifically, TPPS concentration was maintained constant at 80 M in our experiments and BSA concentration was varied. Interestingly, while BSA-TPPS complexes are soluble at pH 7.2, they form insoluble precipitates in acidic conditions (pH 3.0 and 4.7) at low BSA concentration. Specifically, we find that solubility of TPPS exhibits a minimum as BSA concentration increases. We therefore developed a theoretical model that successfully describes the observed behavior of TPPS solubility. Spectrophotometric calibration curves for the determination of PFAS concentration were constructed using solutions with a sufficiently high BSA:TPPS molar ratio.