Final Report Summary - NATURALE CG (Engineering Bio-inspired Materials for Biosensing and Regenerative Medicine)
Naturale CG has progressed and concluded extremely well. I did not meet any significant obstacles during the time period of this grant. As well as fulfilling my original objectives to develop biosensors, nanoneedles and conductive polymers, my team was also able to expand into novel and highly effective biosensor systems, new polymers for tissue engineering, and enhanced analytical techniques using Raman spectroscopy. I have published 65 papers acknowledging Naturale CG funding in multiple high-level journals including Nature Materials, Nature Nano, Cell Stem Cell, ACS Nano, Biomaterials and more.
We have co-developed porous silicon nanoneedles with HMRI, which are able to interface with tissue to deliver genes and sample the intracellular environment. This nanotechnology is a platform technology with enormous potential and wide applicability to various different applications, which we are continuing to develop and exploit. We have exploited the chirality of DNA to pair nucleobase-peptide conjugates using metal-nucleobase recognition (Angew Chem Inter Ed 2017), resulting in self-assembled nanoparticles with plasmonic chirality and improved colloidal stability. We reported a one-pot assay based on FRET outputs and capable of detecting HIV-1 protease based on specific biorecognition events (Chemistry of Materials 2015). We also exploited liposome-based materials to deliver nitric oxide as a treatment option for glaucoma (Advanced Materials 2017). We have developed advanced conductive polymers from bio-derived materials (Albumin and Hemin), and have functionalised other conductive polymers to allow their incorporation into other materials, addressing the key limitations of existing conductive polymers; namely, restricted biocompatibility and mechanical properties. We have developed multiple advanced biosensing systems, including an entirely new nanoparticle-catalyst-driven approach for signal amplification, which achieved better sensitivity for HIV capsid proteins than the best commercially available tests and is continuing to be developed as a potential rapid diagnostic test. We have developed Raman microscopy into a powerful technique for cell and tissue analysis. We have used Raman to map the articular osteochondral interface in unprecedented detail, revealing new zones of molecular organisation never previously described. We have developed a method of generating 3D Raman images of cells (qVRI), and we have used Raman to continuously monitor the development of a scaffold.
Overall, this grant has allowed me to make tremendous progress in my team’s research into biosensing, nanoneedles, conductive polymers, cell/material interactions, and Raman microscopy for tissue engineering.
We have co-developed porous silicon nanoneedles with HMRI, which are able to interface with tissue to deliver genes and sample the intracellular environment. This nanotechnology is a platform technology with enormous potential and wide applicability to various different applications, which we are continuing to develop and exploit. We have exploited the chirality of DNA to pair nucleobase-peptide conjugates using metal-nucleobase recognition (Angew Chem Inter Ed 2017), resulting in self-assembled nanoparticles with plasmonic chirality and improved colloidal stability. We reported a one-pot assay based on FRET outputs and capable of detecting HIV-1 protease based on specific biorecognition events (Chemistry of Materials 2015). We also exploited liposome-based materials to deliver nitric oxide as a treatment option for glaucoma (Advanced Materials 2017). We have developed advanced conductive polymers from bio-derived materials (Albumin and Hemin), and have functionalised other conductive polymers to allow their incorporation into other materials, addressing the key limitations of existing conductive polymers; namely, restricted biocompatibility and mechanical properties. We have developed multiple advanced biosensing systems, including an entirely new nanoparticle-catalyst-driven approach for signal amplification, which achieved better sensitivity for HIV capsid proteins than the best commercially available tests and is continuing to be developed as a potential rapid diagnostic test. We have developed Raman microscopy into a powerful technique for cell and tissue analysis. We have used Raman to map the articular osteochondral interface in unprecedented detail, revealing new zones of molecular organisation never previously described. We have developed a method of generating 3D Raman images of cells (qVRI), and we have used Raman to continuously monitor the development of a scaffold.
Overall, this grant has allowed me to make tremendous progress in my team’s research into biosensing, nanoneedles, conductive polymers, cell/material interactions, and Raman microscopy for tissue engineering.