Project description
Cascades of enzymes in materials could provide exquisitely logical control over therapy delivery
Enzymes are nature's catalysts, essentially lowering the energy required for a reaction to occur with a sort of lock-and-key activation mechanism. They are like the gatekeepers to the reaction's progression. Within the last decade, the use of enzymes as logic gates for elementary computing applications has attracted increasing interest. The EU-funded BioMaGic project is exploiting the use of enzymes to incorporate logic gates into therapeutic biomaterials. Biomaterial coatings or 3D constructs created using enzymatically active hydrogel particles will allow the materials to receive and process multiple biochemical signals (inputs) and enable specific therapeutic 'outputs' depending on the combination of inputs. The novel biomaterials with logic-based therapeutic activity will enable exquisitely tailored therapeutic responses depending on multiple biochemical signals in physiological cascades.
Objective
The present proposal takes a novel approach to design biomaterials with enzymatic logic gates. By mimicking enzymatic biocatalytic cascades present in natural tissues, these biomaterials will be able to receive and process multiple biochemical signals, and logically elicit therapeutic outputs in response to specific combinations of input signals. This goal will be realized using enzymatically active hydrogel particles (Specific Objective (SO) 1) as building blocks that will be assembled into biomaterial coatings (SO 2) or three-dimensional constructs (SO 3), which can be applied to surfaces of currently available biomaterials or serve as autonomous implantable biomaterials, respectively. To illustrate the wide applicability of this biomaterial design strategy, two major clinical challenges are selected as target applications, i.e. tissue regeneration and bacterial infection.
The fellowship will harness the existing experience of the researcher in (bio)materials science, and will add a new dimension to this expertise in terms of biochemical signaling and enzymatic reactions. To achieve this goal, the researcher will carry out the outgoing phase of this fellowship at Harvard University, and then return to Eindhoven University of Technology for the incoming phase. The envisioned activities described in the proposal will prepare the researcher to emerge from this fellowship with additional scientific competences and transferable skills, and to establish an expanded international network. The success in this project will introduce a new class of biomaterials with dynamic signaling capabilities to elicit logic-based therapeutic effects, which can impact virtually all fields in which biomaterials are used, contributing to the enhancement of EU healthcare and economic interests. Through BioMaGic, the researcher will initiate an independent line of research as the basis for establishing an academic faculty career at a European research university.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology materials engineering coating and films
- engineering and technology industrial biotechnology biomaterials
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
5612 AE Eindhoven
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.