Biomimetic Lipid Structures on Nano- and Microfluidic Platforms

Objective

The projects aim at the formation, manipulation, and analysis of three-dimensional lipid membrane structures on micro- and nano-structured platforms. The goal is to develop a novel methodology to design and create simple artificial cells and cell organelles, bio-hybrid cells, and bio-mimicking membrane networks, which could be an entirely novel tool for cell analysis, and promises fascinating prospects for cell manipulation, biotechnology, pharmacy and material sciences. The basis of the projects is formed by an unconventional concept that involves two current cutting-edge fabrication technologies, i.e. the so-called top-down and bottom-up approaches. The combination of the two approaches, with respect to both engineering methods and biological applications, opens the door to overcome current limitations in the creation of complex soft matter objects in micro- and nanometre dimension. The key method is a recently developed micro-extrusion process. It relies, on the one hand, on the ability of the lipid molecules to self-assemble (“bottom-up”). On the other hand, photolithography processes (“top-down”) are utilized to fabricate microchips, in which shape transformation, handling and analysis of the lipid structures are performed. The proposed engineering process will enable, for the first time, to precisely design composition, size and morphology of complex membrane structures. It will provide the requirements to design an artificial cell of reasonable complexity (“bottom-up”). One main emphasis is the creation of unique bio-hybrid systems, in which artificial membrane structures are connected to living cells, or in which natural membranes of cells are integrated within artificial systems (“top-down”). This highly interdisciplinary study will further include fundamental studies on membrane properties, engineering aspects to generate novel soft-matter devices, and the development of analytical methods and lipid sensors based on micro- and nanostructured chips.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

• natural sciences physical sciences condensed matter physics soft matter physics
• natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules lipids
• engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors
• medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

• Artificial Cells
• Biosensor
• Lab-on-Chip Technology
• Lipid Membrane
• Microengineering
• Microfluidics
• Nanotechnology
• Self-Assembly
• Soft Matter Objects
• Synthetic Biology

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

• FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific programme: "Ideas" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

• ERC-SG-PE6 - ERC Starting Grant - Computer science and informatics

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

ERC-2007-StG
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-SG - ERC Starting Grant

Host institution

Beneficiaries (2)