Materials World Network: "New Functionalized Hybrid Systems for Biosensing and drug Delivery"

分子在膜之间导航的能力是许多生物过程的关键。例如，药物跨细胞膜的运输往往决定了它们的疗效。该项目的目标是建立人工纳米结构，以便能够研究分子在界面上的运动和浓度，并开发在纳米结构中捕获和释放药物分子的方法。该项目调查了在适当的生理条件下允许药物加载和缓慢释放的参数。这项工作包括将分子捕获到多孔性纳米结构中的新方法，以及使用材料的光学特性监测多孔性纳米结构的新方法。这项工作的欧洲合作伙伴是法国蒙彼利埃的CNRS查尔斯·格哈特研究所的Frederique Cunin博士、Bernard Coq博士和Jean-Marie Devoisselle博士。蒙彼利埃实验室在法国脂质体给药材料的开发和商业化方面发挥了重要作用，之前由NSF资助的合作项目显著扩大了这一努力的广度。蒙彼利埃集团的药物输送和药物表征专业知识与Sailor研究小组的纳米材料设计和光学专业知识相结合。该项目的特点是两个实验室之间每年进行为期2-4个月的学生交流。

The ability of molecules to navigate between membranes is key to many biological processes. For example, the transport of drugs across cell membranes often determines their efficacy. The objective of this project is to build artificial nanostructures to enable the study of the motion and concentration of molecules across interfaces, and to develop means to trap and release drug molecules within a nanostructure. The project investigates parameters that allow for the loading and the slow release of drugs under appropriate physiological conditions. The work encompasses new methods of trapping molecules into porous nanostructures, and new methods of monitoring the porous nanostructures using the optical properties of the materials. The European partners in this effort are Drs. Frederique Cunin, Bernard Coq, and Jean-Marie Devoisselle of the CNRS Institut Charles Gerhardt, in Montpellier, France. The Montpellier lab has played a major role in the development and commercialization of liposome-based drug delivery materials in France, and the previous NSF-funded collaborative project has expanded the breadth of this effort significantly. The drug delivery and pharmaceutical characterization expertise of the Montpellier group combines with the nanomaterials design and optics expertise of the Sailor research group. The project features exchange of students between the two labs for durations of 2-4 months each year.