Bio-nano science is an emerging area of research at the interface of engineering and medicine. The ultimate aim is to provide new treatments for diseases. One key challenge in this area is understanding how nanoparticles interacts with cells and tissues: “bio-nano interactions”. The objective of this MSCA Individual Fellowship and the qBionano project was to develop new methods to facilitate quantitative bio-nano studies. The MSCA fellow described some of these challenges in a popular science article published in ‘The Conversation’:
https://theconversation.com/how-diseases-can-be-targeted-using-nanotechnology-and-why-its-difficult-82434(opens in new window) By investigating a range of emerging technologies, the qBionano project has made substantial progress in the areas of nanomaterial preparation and bio-nano analysis. Nanoparticles and microparticles with tailored properties were engineered. Raman spectroscopy was employed to examine the interaction of these materials with biological environments. And finally, microfluidic devices were investigated to explore new avenues to research the interactions of nanomaterials with biological cells.
Outcomes of the project include an increasing understanding of how these types of systems should be designed. The project proposal envisioned “Raman active” particles and during the project, particle design evolved from being based around conventional Raman spectroscopy to also include particles incorporating elements enabling surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy which can greatly increase sensitivity. In addition, thanks to the highly collaborative environment and strong network of the host group, there was an opportunity to pursue a complementary approach based on split fusion proteins. During the qBionano project, the MSCA fellow has co-supervised MSc and PhD candidates, and some of them are continuing this work. The comparative study (comparing Raman approaches and split fusion protein approaches for the study of bio-nano interactions) is showing great promise and has provided a wealth of data and insights so far. The results from this study are intended for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Secondly, an opportunity to further engage with the broader objective of this project (i.e. to facilitate quantitative bio-nano studies) occurred during project. The outcome was the development of the MIRIBEL guidelines which were published in September 2018 (Faria & Björnmalm et al., Nature Nanotechnology, open access link http://hdl.handle.net/11343/216237 ). The development of these guidelines received a lot of attention from the broader community (for some examples see the editorial of the July 2019 issue of Nature Nanotechnology). A follow-up publication, co-authored by the MSCA fellow, was further published open access in the Journal of Controlled Release (open access link https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2019.06.027 ).
Overall, the qBionano project has led to a range of new insights in the area of bio-nano interactions, and contributed substantially to the overall goal of facilitating quantitative bio-nano studies. By being placed in the highly interdisciplinary Stevens Group at Imperial College London, with access to extensive networks and collaborators, the MSCA fellow has gained extensive new scientific and professional expertise and experience. Additionally, the MSCA fellow has had the opportunity to pursue the objectives of the qBionano project from several directions, which has greatly amplified the outcomes and impact. For the host group, the qBionano project has laid a solid foundation for continuing work in this area, with several projects in the Stevens Group having benefitted from these efforts. Ongoing work in the Stevens Group is building on the outcomes from qBionano, thus ensuring its continuing impact.
