This project obtained a one-year extension of the funding initially granted for 2016-2018.
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.
We are developing multivalent interaction schemes that enable the simultaneous targeting of a precise combination of multiple surface receptors, thus drastically reducing the chances of spurious adhesion. Proof-of-concept experiments, supported by theoretical modelling, in which DNA-functionalized liposomes serve as target and DNA-functionalized nanoparticles as probes have been performed and have shown encouraging results but unexpected sensitivity of the proposed targeting strategy to the precise stoichiometry of the ligands grafted on the nanoparticle probes.
The above-described issue has encouraged us to explore a new and exciting research direction, involving the use of lipid-based probes rather than solid nanoparticles. 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 (Brussels School of Engineering) and Bortolo Mognetti (Faculty of Sciences), ULB
Thanks to the Foundation’s support, Dr Roberta Lanfranco has been hired to work on this project.