Development of ratiometric nanoprobes and nanosensors for the detection of the hydroxyl radical, hydrogen peroxide and superoxide

Reactive oxygen species are implicates in a variety of diseases and disorders including: Alzheimers disease, immunological disorders and cancer. However, certain ROS, such as superoxide and nitric oxide, play a vital part in the immune defense and in intercellular signaling. In order to develop effective treatments for the diseases in which the production of ROS is insinuated, the amount and identity of the specific ROS that is responsible needs to be known. For this reason, there is a need to develop specific and sensitive techniques for the detection of ROS in biological systems.; PEBBLEs (Probes Encapsulated By Biologically Localized Embedding) are nanometer sized optical sensors that have been developed for a variety of analytes. The development of one PEBBLE probe for the detection of the hydroxyl radical (·OH) and two PEBBLE sensors for the detection of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and superoxide (O2 -) are discussed in this thesis. Also discussed are some of the problems and possible solutions that have been encountered in the development of the ·OH PEBBLE probe, H2O2 PEBBLE sensor and O2- PEBBLE sensor.