Synthesis of new types of nanoparticles and their antimicrobial resistance

抗菌素耐药性(AMR)是全球最严重的威胁之一，欧盟/英国每年有超过2.5万名患者死亡，据预测，到2050年，AMR细菌将导致1000万人死亡。在经济上，预计未来40年全球GDP的损失将达到5万亿英磅。该项目的主要目标将是合成新型纳米粒子，这些纳米粒子将针对并杀死世界卫生组织优先考虑的病原体。卡纳拉斯集团(http://www.licn.phys.soton.ac.uk/))在纳米颗粒功能化和纳米颗粒-细胞相互作用方面拥有国际声誉和专业知识。最近，该小组开发了化学方案，利用多肽、蛋白质和DNA等生物活性分子合成各种类型的纳米粒子并使其具有功能化，这些分子具有选择性传感和杀伤癌细胞、抑制血管生成和促进皮肤渗透等多项任务。成功的申请者将利用广泛的表征技术获得化学、物理和生物学领域的多学科专业知识。

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is one of the most serious threats globally with more than 25,000 patients dying in the EU/UK annually, and it is predicted that AMR bacteria will kill >10 million people by 2050. Economically, the loss to global GDP is predicted to be > £5 trillion over the next 40 years.The main objective of this project will be to synthesize new types of nanoparticles which will target and kill pathogens that they are at the priority list of the World Health Organization. The Kanaras group (http://www.licn.phys.soton.ac.uk/) has an international reputation and expertise in nanoparticle functionalization and nanoparticle-cell interactions. Recently, the group has developed chemical protocols to synthesize and functionalize various types of nanoparticles with bioactive molecules such as peptides, proteins and DNA, which possess multi-tasking roles such as selective sensing and killing of cancer cells, inhibition of angiogenesis, and enhanced skin penetration. The successful applicant will gain multidisciplinary expertise across the areas of chemistry, physics and biology utilizing a broad range of characterization techniques