Presentation
The targeting of specific cells amongst a vast cell population is a key step in the development of effective nanocarriers for drug delivery. Multivalent strategies that consist in functionalizing carriers with a large number of identical weakly binding ligands have been developed. These can effectively target cells overexpressing a specific receptor, but their application is limited by the possibility that multiple cell types may display similar levels of expression.
Our goal is to develop multivalent interaction schemes that enable the simultaneous targeting of a precise combination of multiple surface receptors, thus drastically reducing the chances of spurious adhesion. Our strategy will be tested using theoretical modelling and proof-of-concept experiments in which DNA-functionalized liposomes serve as target and DNA-functionalized nanoparticles as probes.
We will then apply our method to the selective targeting a pathogenic strain of E. coli in vitro using nanoparticles functionalised with multiple DNA aptamers, reported to efficiently interact with this bacterial strain.
Promoters
- Pietro Cicuta and Lorenzo Di Michele, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge
- Gilles Bruylants (École polytechnique) and Bortolo Mognetti (Faculty of Sciences), ULB
Thanks to the Foundation’s support, Dr Roberta Lanfranco has been hired at the ULB to work on this project.