Tracing the Intracellular Fate of Anticancer Nanomedicines

Nanomedicines are defined as specifically engineered, nanosized drugs and drug delivery systems that are comprised of multiple components. For example, polymer-drug conjugates and drug-protein conjugates are emerging as promising approaches to treating a number of diseases, including cancer. The payloads of these nanomedicines differ widely. However, when targeting cancer, there is a universal requirement to reach the tumour and often to deliver the payload to a specific intracellular compartment in order to yield the desired therapeutic effect. The goal of this project is to develop complementary approaches that showcase the manufacturing of functionalised biopolymer-based nanoparticles and their subsequent biological evaluation in relation to cellular and subcellular trafficking in the tumour cells. To achieve this goal, we generate drug-loaded silk nanoparticles that can be readily functionlised to target specific cells and cellular compartments. Taken together, these studies will demonstrate an integrated approach to the development of next-generation nanomedicines. This proposal provides the drug delivery field with a novel nanoparticle system and a unique toolbox for the cellular tracing of nanomedicines for the wider scientific community.

Call: FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG
Project ID: 334134

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