PINSYS

Bio-Inspired Approaches to Porous Inorganic Nanoparticles and Their Application as Targeted Drug Delivery Systems

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'This project will develop novel, bio-inspired routes to the synthesis of porous inorganic nanoparticles with sponge-like internal structures, using nanostructured polymer capsules as templates. The application of these structures in targeted drug delivery and controlled release will then be investigated. Biominerals provide a unique inspiration for the design and synthesis of new materials. While showing remarkable structures and properties, these amazing materials form in aqueous environments under ambient conditions and organic molecules – either as soluble additives or insoluble matrices – are used to control crystal growth. We will here employ a bio-inspired strategy to generate porous calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate nanoparticles with sponge-like structures. A novel class of polymer capsules with bicontinuous internal structures, which are formed by the self-assembly of comb-like block copolymers in water will be used as templates. This system will also provide a unique opportunity for studying the effect of confinement on crystal nucleation and growth. Crystallisation in confinement is widespread in Nature, the environment and technology, and the research will therefore impact on fundamental research and technology across many disciplines. The synthesised porous nanoparticles will then be used to build targeted drug delivery systems (DDSs) by encapsulating anti-cancer drugs for the treatment of bone cancer. While mesoporous silica nanoparticles have been investigated quite extensively, little work has to-date been performed on alternative nanoporous crystalline inorganic nanoparticles. As compared with mesoporous silica, the calcium phosphate and calcium carbonate nanoparticles will show superior biocompatibility and biodegradation, and will also offer acid-responsive solubility and therefore will give the pH-responsive release of the encapsulated drugs from the drug delivery system in the acidic environment of tumors.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

In biomineralisation, organic molecules are used to direct the formation of materials such as bones. Inspired by nature, EU-funded researchers produced inorganic nanoparticles of hydroxyapatite (HA) with controlled porosity.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

In forming biominerals, nature shows that it is possible to gain remarkable control over crystallisation processes. Under the aegis of the PINSYS project, scientists with multidisciplinary expertise successfully employed a number of bio-inspired strategies to produce novel porous inorganic nanoparticles for biomedical applications.

Mesoporous solids are materials with pore diameter ranging between 2 and 50 nm. PINSYS tested several materials including mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) for their ability to control crystal nucleation. Researchers also developed an innovative technique where MSNs act as nucleating agents and fetuins as growth inhibitors. Fetuin is a serum protein that helps regulate vascular calcification and bone metabolism. Their efforts were fruitful, leading to synthesis of the mesoporous HA nanorods. Further, the size and porosity of these nanoparticles could be tuned by varying the fetuin concentration.

Scientists used bovine serum albumin as the large molecule drug for assessing the applicability of mesoporous nanoparticles in drug delivery. Mesoporous HA nanorods displayed a significantly higher payload capacity and a more sustained drug release profile than solid HA nanorods. They also showed that these particles are easily up-taken by cells. This suggests that they would be good for intracellular drug delivery applications.

Increasingly higher ageing population numbers implies larger health care demands on the already overburdened European health care systems. Project activities are highly promising, particularly in the area of nanomedicine. The techniques developed could be used in targeted drug delivery and controlled release systems for treating diseases like cancer.