I-Corps: Using Peptides for Biomolecules Encapsulation, Storage, and Preservation

I-Corps项目更广泛的商业潜力是开发一种多功能生物分子保存解决方案，其应用范围涵盖制药、化妆品、食品、个人护理、农业等多个行业。这一创新通过提高生物分子的稳定性和寿命来解决重大的社会和商业挑战。最初的重点将考虑基于蛋白质的制药行业，特别是物流和制造业，到2022年市场规模将达到2651.6亿美元，预计还会增长。在检查现有的蛋白质保存方法（如冻干和低温储存）时，到2022年，生物制药的冻干服务和医疗保健行业的冷物流链的整合总共约占230亿美元的收入。此外，通过解决类似的储存挑战，也有机会使农业和家用产品部门受益。这个I-Corps项目是基于一项涉及简单多肽的技术开发，该技术设计用于在空气干燥时形成高多孔颗粒和泡沫。这些肽表现出独特的相分离能力，产生多孔固体泡沫，有效地捕获和保护不同的分子有效载荷。这些设计的肽，不同于生物对应，使可逆的干燥诱导相分离和包封过程。在重新引入水后，多孔固体泡沫，类似于干粉，并且毫不费力地溶解，展示了分子有效载荷的有效释放和分散机制。该技术具有机械稳健性和多孔颗粒粉末尺寸可调性等优点。与传统的乳化方法不同，这种方法不需要机械能，而是依靠节能的蒸发过程进行相分离和封装。此外，生物相容性和可生物降解肽的使用提高了系统的环境效益和成本效益。正在进行的研究侧重于扩展应用，以封装制药，营养保健和化妆品的有效载荷，展示了这项技术的广泛潜力。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a versatile biomolecule preservation solution with applications spanning diverse industries, including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food, personal care, agriculture, and more. This innovation stands to address significant societal and commercial challenges by enhancing the stability and longevity of biomolecules. An initial focus will consider the protein based pharmaceutical sector, especially in logistics and manufacturing, with a $265.16 billion market in 2022 and projected growth. When examining existing protein preservation methods such as lyophilization and cold temperature storage, the integration into lyophilization services for biopharmaceuticals and the cold logistic chain in healthcare sectors collectively accounts for an estimated $23 billion in revenue in 2022. Additionally, there are opportunities to benefit the agriculture and household products sectors by addressing analogous storage challenges.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a technology involving simple peptides designed for the formation of highly porous particles and foams upon air drying. These peptides exhibit a unique capability for phase separation, creating porous solid foams that efficiently trap and protect diverse molecular payloads. These designed peptides, distinct from biological counterparts, enable a reversible drying-induced phase separation and encapsulation process. Upon reintroduction of water, the porous solid foams, resembling dry powder, and effortlessly dissolves, showcasing an efficient release and dispersion mechanism for molecular payloads. This technology offers several advantages, including mechanical robustness and size tunability of the porous particle powders. Unlike traditional emulsification methods, this approach does not necessitate mechanical energy but relies on an energy-efficient evaporation process for phase separation and encapsulation. Moreover, the use of biocompatible and biodegradable peptides enhances the environmental- and cost-effectiveness of the system. Ongoing research focuses on expanding the applications to encapsulate pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and cosmetic payloads, showcasing the broad potential of this technology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.