Moustafa Ali

Research Interests

Assistant Professor Moustafa R. K. Ali’s group advances nanotechnology by engineering plasmonic gold, lipid, and polymer nanoparticles (1–100 nm) with precise control over size, shape, and surface chemistry. The team investigates the fundamental properties of these nanomaterials and translates them into analytical and therapeutic tools, applying their approaches to cancer and infectious diseases through rapid detection and antimicrobial nanotherapies. Innovations include diagnostic tools such as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and nanotherapeutics such as plasmonic photothermal therapy (PPTT)—which leverages plasmonic nanostructures to absorb laser energy and convert it into heat to target cancer cells and inhibit metastasis (Granted U.S. Patent). They also design targeted drug delivery systems and integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) into nanoparticle synthesis and data analysis to accelerate discovery, ensure reproducibility, and facilitate translation from laboratory research to industrial applications.

Publications

• Moustafa R. K. Ali & Mostafa A. El-Sayed; S. Patent “Methods for Inhibiting Cancer Cell Migration with Gold Nanomaterials and Photothermal Therapy” Appl. No.: 16 / 029, 19: filed on July 6, 2018; GTRC Reference No.: 7627. 16/029,193. “GRANTED 6/2021”
• Xueqian Dong, Pengyun Yu, Juan Zhao, Yue Wu, Moustafa R. K. Ali, Mostafa A. El-Sayed, Jianping Wang "Structural Dynamics of (RGD) 4PGC Peptides in Solvated and Au Nanorod Surface-Bound Forms Examined by Ultrafast 2D IR Spectroscopy" The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 127 (2023): 3532-3541.
• Amira M. Gamal-Eldeen, Bassem M. Raafat, Cinderella A. Fahmy, Mahmoud T. Abo-Elfadl, Sherien M. El-Daly, Moustafa R. K. Ali "Effect of PEGylated gold nanorods on the circulating vascular endothelial growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, and miR-29a in CD-1 mice" Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka 50 (2022): 467-475.
• Moustafa R. K. Ali*, Paige E. Warner, Anthony M. Yu, Ming Tong, Tiegang Han, Yan Tang "Preventing metastasis using gold nanorod-assisted plasmonic photothermal therapy in xenograft mice" Bioconjugate Chemistry 33 (2022): 2320-2331.
• Samar M. Shahen, Mohamed R. Mohamed, Moustafa R. K. Ali, Rehab M. Samaka, Germine M. Hamdy, Roba M. Talaat "Therapeutic potential of targeted‐gold nanospheres on collagen‐induced arthritis in rats" Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology 48 (2021): 1346-1357.
• Moustafa R. K. Ali*, Haithem A. M. Farghali, Yue Wu, Ivan H. El-Sayed, Ahmed H. Osman, Salah A. Selim, Mostafa A. El-Sayed "Gold nanorod-assisted photothermal therapy decreases bleeding during breast cancer surgery in dogs and cats" Cancers 11 (2019): 851.
• Moustafa R. K. Ali*, Yue Wu, Savita Chapman, Yong Ding "Synthesis, structure evolution, and optical properties of gold nanobones" Research on Chemical Intermediates 45 (2019): 3973-3983.
• Moustafa R. K. Ali*, Yue Wu, Mostafa A. El-Sayed "Gold-nanoparticle-assisted plasmonic photothermal therapy advances toward clinical application" The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 123 (2019): 15375-15393.
• Yue Wu, Moustafa R. K. Ali*, Kamaria Dansby, Mostafa A. El-Sayed "Improving the flow cytometry-based detection of the cellular uptake of gold nanoparticles" Analytical Chemistry 91 (2019): 14261-14267.
• Yue Wu, Moustafa R. K. Ali*, Kuangcai Chen, Ning Fang, Mostafa A. El-Sayed "Gold nanoparticles in biological optical imaging" Nano Today 24 (2019): 120-140.
• Moustafa R. K. Ali, Yue Wu, Bin Dong, Tiegang Han, Kuangcai Chen, Jin Chen, Yan Tang, Ning Fang, Fangjun Wang, Mostafa A. El-Sayed "Gold nanorod photothermal therapy alters cell junctions and actin network in inhibiting cancer cell collective migration" ACS Nano 12 (2018): 9279-9290.
• Moustafa R. K. Ali, Yue Wu, Yan Tang, Haopeng Xiao, Kuangcai Chen, Tiegang Han, Ning Fang, Ronghu Wu, Mostafa A. El-Sayed "Targeting cancer cell integrins using gold nanorods in photothermal therapy inhibits migration through affecting cytoskeletal proteins" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114 (2017): E5655-E5663.
• Moustafa R. K. Ali, Mohammad Aminur Rahman, Yue Wu, Tiegang Han, Xianghong Peng, Megan A. Mackey, Dongsheng Wang, Hyung Ju Shin, Zhuo G. Chen, Haopeng Xiao, Ronghu Wu, Yan Tang, Dong M. Shin, Mostafa A. El-Sayed "Efficacy, long-term toxicity, and mechanistic studies of gold nanorods photothermal therapy of cancer in xenograft mice" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114 (2017): E3110-E3118.
• Moustafa R. K. Ali, Yue Wu, Deepraj Ghosh, Brian H. Do, Kuangcai Chen, Michelle R. Dawson, Ning Fang, Todd A. Sulchek, Mostafa A. El-Sayed "Nuclear membrane-targeted gold nanoparticles inhibit cancer cell migration and invasion" ACS Nano 11 (2017): 3716-3726.
• Moustafa R. K. Ali, Yue Wu, Tiegang Han, Xiaoling Zang, Haopeng Xiao, Yan Tang, Ronghu Wu, Facundo M. Fernández, Mostafa A. El-Sayed "Simultaneous time-dependent surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, metabolomics, and proteomics reveal cancer cell death mechanisms associated with gold nanorod photothermal therapy" Journal of the American Chemical Society 138 (2016): 15434-15442.
• Moustafa R. K. Ali, Hala R. Ali, Carl R. Rankin, Mostafa A. El-Sayed "Targeting heat shock protein 70 using gold nanorods enhances cancer cell apoptosis in low dose plasmonic photothermal therapy" Biomaterials 102 (2016): 1-8.
• Moustafa R. K. Ali, Hala R. Ali, Yue Wu, Salah A. Selim, Hazem F. M. Abdelaal, Essam A. Nasr, Mostafa A. El-Sayed "Gold nanorods as drug delivery vehicles for rifampicin greatly improve the efficacy of combating Mycobacterium tuberculosis with good biocompatibility with the host cells" Bioconjugate Chemistry 27 (2016): 2486-2492.
• Moustafa R. K. Ali, Ibrahim M. Ibrahim, Hala R. Ali, Salah A. Selim, Mostafa A. El-Sayed "Treatment of natural mammary gland tumors in canines and felines using gold nanorods-assisted plasmonic photothermal therapy to induce tumor apoptosis" International Journal of Nanomedicine (2016): 4849-4863.
• Amira M. Gamal-Eldeen, Mona A. M. Abo-Zeid, Sherien M. El-Daly, Mahmoud T. Abo-Elfadl, Cinderella A. Fahmy, Moustafa R. K. Ali, Mostafa A. El-Sayed "In vivo genotoxicity of gold nanorods in mouse bone marrow compared with cyclophosphamide" Nano Biomedicine and Engineering 8 (2016).
• Ahmed S. Abdoon, Emad A. Al-Ashkar, Omaima M. Kandil, Ahmed M. Shaban, Hussein M. Khaled, Mostafa A. El-Sayed, Marwa M. El Shaer, Asharaf H. Shaalan, Wael H. Eisa, Amina A. Gamal Eldin, Hany A. Hussein, Mohammad R. El Ashkar, Moustafa R. K. Ali, Ali A. Shabaka "Efficacy and toxicity of plasmonic photothermal therapy (PPTT) using gold nanorods (GNRs) against mammary tumors in dogs and cats" Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine 12 (2016): 2291-2297.
• Mahmoud T. Abo-Elfadl, Amira M. Gamal-Eldeen, Mostafa M. Elshafey, Gamil M. Abdalla, Shawkey S. Ali, Moustafa R. K. Ali, Mahmoud F. M. Zawrah "Photothermal therapeutic effect of PEGylated gold nano-semicubes in chemically-induced skin cancer in mice" Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology 164 (2016): 21-29.
• Megan A. Mackey, Moustafa R. K. Ali, Lauren A. Austin, Rachel D. Near, Mostafa A. El-Sayed "The most effective gold nanorod size for plasmonic photothermal therapy: theory and in vitro experiments" The Journal of Physical Chemistry B 118 (2014): 1319-1326.
• Moustafa R. K. Ali, Sajanlal R. Panikkanvalappil, Mostafa A. El-Sayed "Enhancing the efficiency of gold nanoparticles treatment of cancer by increasing their rate of endocytosis and cell accumulation using rifampicin" Journal of the American Chemical Society 136 (2014): 4464-4467.
• Mona A. M. Abo-Zeid, Thomas Liehr, Michael Glei, Amira M. Gamal-Eldeen, Mahmoud F. M. Zawrah, Moustafa R. K. Ali "Detection of cyto-and genotoxicity of rod-shaped gold nanoparticles in human blood lymphocytes using comet-FISH" Cytologia 80 (2015): 173-181.
• Moustafa R. K. Ali, Brian Snyder, Mostafa A. El-Sayed "Synthesis and optical properties of small Au nanorods using a seedless growth technique" Langmuir 28 (2012): 9807-9815.
• Mahmoud F. M. Zawrah, Mohamed A. Zayed, Moustafa R. K. Ali "Synthesis and characterization of SiC and SiC/Si3N4 composite nano powders from waste material" Journal of Hazardous Materials 227 (2012): 250-256.