Project description
Self-replicating drug delivery vehicles
Polymersomes are hollow artificial vesicles suitable for encompassing drugs, enzymes or peptides and serve as drug delivery vehicles. However, their laborious synthesis, low yield and high quantity waste limit their industrial scalability. To address this issue, the EU-funded AutoPolymer project will develop a versatile platform for the generation of polymersome-based drug delivery vehicles which can self-replicate. Taking inspiration from the auto-synthesis of cellular components in mitosis, scientists will generate polymersomes that contain enzymes in their lumen and can catalyse polymer synthesis. The approach is highly versatile and can be used to enrich the composition of polymersomes and the delivered therapeutic agents.
Objective
Polymersomes, hollow polymer vesicles made from assembled amphiphilic block copolymers, are interesting systems for drug delivery as they can be synthesised to be biocompatible, biodegradable, and/or stimuli-responsive. A main limitation of all drug delivery vehicles is that they require multiple steps of synthesis and a posterior self-assembly process that generates low yields and high quantities of non-encapsulated waste, limiting industrial scalability. Being hosted in the Stevens Group (www.stevensgroup.org recognised with over 30 major awards), AutoPolymer aims at generating a versatile platform for the generation of polymersome-based drug delivery vehicles which can self-replicate by synthesising amphiphilic block copolymers in the lumen, with the future perspective of co synthesising encapsulated therapeutic agents. The strategy builds on finding bioinspiration in nature, mimicking the autosynthesis of structural components of cells through the mitosis process. This will be achieved by generating enzyme-containing polymersomes which have the capacity to biocatalyse polymerisation reactions. The polymers will be synthesised in the lumen of the polymersomes and will then migrate and assemble to the existing membrane. This will allow for membrane surface area growth and posterior binary fission splitting the encapsulated contents. The incorporation of light responsive chemical motifs to the polymersomes throughout their autosynthesis will be studied to render light-responsive drug delivery vehicles. The polymersomes will be tested for their therapeutic effects on cell lines. The approach is highly versatile and could, in principle, be used for a great variety of chemical compositions and encapsulated therapeutic agents. The potential of the project will be evaluated through the outstanding infrastructure of the Stevens Group.
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.
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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.
SW7 2AZ London
United Kingdom
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.