Final Report Summary - NANOCUES (Nanoscale surface cues to steer cellular biosystems)
The overall science and technology (S&T) objectives of this project were to create a knowledge base and technical platform that could be exploited in the design and development of Nan/biotechnological processes and devices, tailored to steer/monitor cellular function. The project team consisted of seven leading groups in Europe, representing the necessary interdisciplinary competence and the complementarily required for this purpose.
The project included all levels from materials design and preparation, Nan structuring, chemical patterning, and biomolecular interactions up to the cellular level.
There were a number of obstacles, which prevented a knowledge base and a technical platform from being realised. Some related to the lack of suitable fabrication methods e.g. to produce Nan-patterned non-fouling surfaces with functional arrays of macromolecules. Some related to a lack of suitable characterisation tools, e.g. tools to characterise the interface between living cells and synthetic materials; others relate to a lack of understanding of molecular interactions at surfaces and of mechanisms of cellular interactions at bio interfaces.
The project used nanoscale engineering to recreate biologically functional biointerfaces while allowing for the addition of new artificial functional properties. This way it should be possible to study stem cells in a well-defined experimental setting.
The project included all levels from materials design and preparation, Nan structuring, chemical patterning, and biomolecular interactions up to the cellular level.
There were a number of obstacles, which prevented a knowledge base and a technical platform from being realised. Some related to the lack of suitable fabrication methods e.g. to produce Nan-patterned non-fouling surfaces with functional arrays of macromolecules. Some related to a lack of suitable characterisation tools, e.g. tools to characterise the interface between living cells and synthetic materials; others relate to a lack of understanding of molecular interactions at surfaces and of mechanisms of cellular interactions at bio interfaces.
The project used nanoscale engineering to recreate biologically functional biointerfaces while allowing for the addition of new artificial functional properties. This way it should be possible to study stem cells in a well-defined experimental setting.
