Final Report Summary - MAGIC ((Nano)-Materials for cell Growth, Imaging and Communication)
The nanocontainers however are not biodegradable and they remain in the cells preventing their possible use in vivo. To overcome this drawback, very recently we succeed to synthesize a breakable silica framework. The strategy is based on the introduction in the silica network of organic moieties that are broken, by an external stimulus to form other molecules and, as a consequence, a breaking of the organo-silica is realized. We have developed porous particles as well as breakable capsules, the latter able to encapsulate biomolecules. Such innovative technology allows not only the delivery of drugs but also the release on demand of active proteins. The possibility to trigger the liberation of biomolecules opens interesting challenges towards the cure of different diseases.
Besides the use of such nanocontainers as carriers and drug delivery we have shown that their arrangement in monolayers can lead to the patterning of surface and their functionalization to the formation of bio-carpet on which cells can grow and proliferate. The possibility to print different molecules on top of the nanopatterned systems resulted in a selective adhesion of certain type of cells. Such finding can be explored in the future development of diagnostics sensors or as a platform for the capture/separation of desired cells. We have also demonstrated that for disc-shaped particles it is possible to functionalize the two side with orthogonal groups or even with nano-objects.
To translate the concept of cell growth from 2D to a 3D dimension we have recently developed a series of hydrogels where the porous particles are used as filler and to induce a better elasticity to the soft gel but also as a reservoir for the nutrients and differentiation factors for cells. We have demonstrated that the hybrid gels allows the cells to grow and differentiate and the materials have been already tested in vivo for different type of biomedical applications.
All these results have been the subject of more than 30 publications, 2 patents, and the starting of a spin-off.