LIGHTOPLEX · Light triggered non-invasive gene delivery through lipopolyplexes
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2018-09-01 → 2020-08-31
- EU contribution
- €171,461
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Light triggered non-invasive gene delivery through lipopolyplexes
Biomedical research and development rely on powerful test systems. In the past, test systems that address cellular processes made use of cell cultures in Petri dishes at one end and test animals at the other end. Both approaches suffer from limitations that have severely hampered progress in medicine, in pharmacology and toxicology in recent years. Presently, there are enormous efforts to establish novel physiologically relevant cell models that accurately mimic human tissue and organs in order to provide systems for the study of disease, for drug screening and for the assessment of the toxicity of compounds. The benefit of these cell models strongly depends on the tools for controlling cellular parameters and for manipulating cellular behaviour. In this project, a novel tool for the delivery of bioactive compounds into cells has been developed.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Target-specific and controlled drug delivery are nowadays integral and extremely promising parts of research and practice in modern medicine. It gives an option to reduce drug toxicity and increase bioavailability by delivering a drug to a specific site with defined concentration. During the last decade highly efficient non-viral gene delivery has been achieved by encapsulation of nucleic acids into complexes of liposomes and polycations - lipopolyplexes (LPP) - new generation gene delivery systems. The main challenge in liposome-based gene delivery is to achieve high level of control over gene release. The main aim of this project is to develop a new approach for non-invasive gene delivery while gene release is highly controlled in space and time. This will be achieved by the design of infra-red light sensitive LPPs. The project includes engineering of the tailor-made LPPs, detailed investigation of the light triggered release mechanism, and will eventually result in intracellular light triggered gene delivery. Expert knowledge of the researcher together with the knowledge to be contributed by the hosting institution and from collaborations established by the researcher worldwide will allow successful project implementation. Mutual knowledge transfer will strengthen scientific contacts within and outside the EU as well as will let the researcher to develop her own independent research career. Attraction of interest from industrial partners is expected in case of success. Collaboration with industrial partners will profit from an exceptional record of the host with successful industrial projects.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG EV · MunchenCoordinatorGermany
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union