Skip to main content
European Commission logo print header

Ultra-small Nanohybrides for Advanced Theranostics

Project description

Ultrasmall and multi-talented: Nanohybrid materials for diagnosis and therapy

Nanoscale materials have gained a place in the spotlight as enablers of combination diagnostic-therapeutic technologies due to their tiny penetrating sizes and their unique functional properties. Nanohybrids that contain both organic and inorganic components, including metallic ones, offer tremendous opportunity for the functionalisation of biological or bioactive molecules. The EU-funded UNAT project will explore the capabilities of metal-carbon nanohybrids for multimodal in vivo imaging and therapy of tumours via electromagnetic radiation. The diagnosis and therapy of cancer will be evaluated through an ambitious campaign of preclinical in vitro and in vivo experiments.

Objective

Nowadays, research focusing on control and use of nanomaterials in different areas including life sciences has become a key driver of innovation. UNAT project aims at a systematic interdisciplinary study of metal-carbon nanohybrides (NHs) for advanced theranostic application. Indeed, development of NHs based on organic & inorganic moieties can synergistically or antagonistically influence functional properties of engineered nanotheranostic medicines. UNAT will develop innovative approaches for synthesis and multi-functional application of ultra-small (<10 nm) carbon-based NHs functionalized with various metal atoms for diagnostics and therapy of cancer. In particular, carbon cores of NHs will be chemically synthesized from biomasses and bio-wastes. The combination of pre-clinical in-vitro & in-vivo experiments will allow to evaluate theranostic potential of the NHs.
UNAT will associate an industrial partner from Greece (Bioemtech), a research and innovation center from Ukraine (Science Park) and 2 academic research groups from France (UCBL) and Italy (CNR). The uptake efficiency and specific localization of the NHs in biological cells depending on their intentionally designed surface chemistry will be studied in details. Extremely rich physico-chemical properties of the NHs will allow their application as universal multi-modal (MRI, PET, X-ray, Fluorescence, Photoacoustic) in-vivo bio-imaging agents. The multimodal imaging strategy will allow us to correlate the images obtained with the use of various imaging facilities to increase general reliability of visualization of the NHs localization in tumours. Various exciting electro-magnetic sources used for medical purposes will be simultaneously used for therapy of cancer tissues containing the incorporated NHs. Strongly complementary research experiences of the partners involved in UNAT and a high degree of cooperative integration between them will allow a deep scientific study of the theranostic potential of the NHs.

Coordinator

UNIVERSITE LYON 1 CLAUDE BERNARD
Net EU contribution
€ 142 600,00
Address
BOULEVARD DU 11 NOVEMBRE 1918 NUM43
69622 Villeurbanne Cedex
France

See on map

Region
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes Rhône
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
€ 142 600,00

Participants (4)