engineering ligand-REceptor INteractions FOR Molecular communicATIONs

Descripción del proyecto

Las proteínas y sus receptores podrían ser el pilar fundamental de las redes de comunicación del futuro

Las tecnologías inspiradas en la naturaleza para la comunicación o el procesamiento de señales atraen la atención en todo el mundo. Los constructos llave-cerradura que proporciona la interacción entre ligando y receptor pueden conferir una selectividad excelente al abrir la puerta, por así decirlo, solo cuando está la llave adecuada. Estos tipos de sustratos de comunicaciones moleculares podrían favorecer las nanoredes de dispositivos en las que la información puede intercambiarse entre dispositivos mediante la absorción o emisión de determinadas moléculas. El equipo del proyecto REINFORMATION, que cuenta con el apoyo de las Acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, caracterizará las interacciones entre ligando y receptor para su optimización en sistemas de comunicaciones moleculares fiables y de alta velocidad. Se mejorará su comprensión mediante una prueba experimental novedosa, así como con una plataforma de validación que contiene proteínas y receptores.

Objetivo

Molecular Communications (MC) is the nature’s way of networking at nanoscale, observed in almost all biological systems, including bacterial populations and nervous system. MC has been widely studied to enable the networks of artificial nanoscale devices promoting new high-impact applications such as intrabody continuous health monitoring with mobile nanosensor networks. At the core of the natural MC systems lies the ligand-receptor (LR) binding interactions, which provide the selectivity of information transfer. Likewise, LR interactions are essential for artificial MC systems to have a selective and reliable channel/receiver interface in the form of a biorecognition layer consisting of ligand receptors. Recent studies have revealed the dramatic impact of LR interactions on the overall MC performance in terms of channel bandwidth, molecular interference, receiver sensitivity and dynamic range, posing a multi-objective optimisation problem. The aim of REINFORMATION is to understand, optimise and engineer the LR interactions for high data-rate and reliable MC systems. To this end, the project will first deliver a realistic theoretical modelling and optimisation framework for MC accompanied by a microfluidic experimental test and validation platform with graphene aptasensor-based MC receivers. The framework will provide the first experimentally validated micro/nanoscale MC models, and enable the optimisation of binding affinity and kinetic rates of LR interactions from the MC perspective. The optimisation results will guide the rational design of new aptamer receptors for target information-carrying proteins, which will then be implemented on the experimental platform. The project will finally provide novel MC modulation and detection techniques, exploiting the LR interactions for high data-rate and reliable MC. Combining expertise in MC, nanotechnology, and computational biology, the project will remove a major barrier to the development of practical MC applications.