Remotely actuated re-shaped nanocarriers for tumour targeting

Current nanometric drug delivery systems have enormous potential to shift clinical practice in diseases that require targeted or site-specific therapy.

New tools to fabricating multi-functional drug delivery systems can potentiate drug-carrier activity and offer the necessary shift from inert carriers to active drug carriers that can maximize drug activity in the desired tissue. This is particularly crucial in cancer, where chemotherapy drugs have broad spectrum non-specific activities.

Based on our recent findings related to the role of physical properties of nano-carriers e.g. morphology, shape and stiffness in cell specificity, we propose to develop a remotely actuated nanocarrier with optimal parameters to provide tumor targeting.

The nanocarriers are composed of thermo-responsive polymer with metal, which can be designed as asymmetric particles with preference of uptake by the more malignant cells.

The project includes the development of a novel methodology for fabricating anisotropic metal/polymer hybrid nanoparticles, as well as characterization of their morphology and composition. The remote actuation of the nanocarriers will be measured as well as their theopoetic potential.

The high-risk project can lead to an innovative approach in drug delivery with a particulate interest in cancer and other complex diseases.