Project R-9981

ROS-responsive nanocarriers for actively targeted drug delivery to cancer cells. (Research)

Cancer is one of the deadliest diseases in the world causing millions of deaths per year. Due to the adverse effects of current treatment modalities, stimuli-responsive nanoparticles have increasingly gained interest for use in cancer therapy. To this extent, many research efforts have been made to develop functional nanoparticles that elude several biological barriers in order to reach their target and allow controlled release of cargo. However, limited knowledge on the actual fate of nanoparticles upon interactions within the cellular environment hampers their clinical translation. This project aims to provide fundamental insights on biomolecular interactions of ROS-responsive nanoparticles in the cellular environment. ROS-responsive nanoparticles, with core-shell morphology, are developed to allow the efficient encapsulation and controlled release of both highly and poorly water-soluble drugs. Afterwards, the influence of protein corona formation on targeting efficiency, the intracellular dynamics, as well as mechanism of action of the developed nanocarriers and released cancer drugs, will be studied. By this, the project improves our understanding of how ROS-responsive nanoparticles can be used for more effective cancer therapy.

01 October 2019 - 01 October 2019