Carolina Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence

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DESCRIPTION (provided by the applicant): The Carolina Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (C-CCNE) will bring together recent pioneering breakthroughs at UNC in nano-particle engineering with the world class excellence in the understanding/treatment of cancer in the Lineberger Cancer Center for the delivery of therapeutic, detection and imaging agents for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Physical scientists at UNC have pioneered a recent breakthrough in the materials useful for imprint lithography-an emerging technology adapted from the microelectronics industry-that enables an extremely versatile and flexible method for the direct fabrication and harvesting of monodisperse, shape-specific nano-biomaterials. The method, referred to as Particle Replication In Non-wetting Templates, or PRINT, allows for the fabrication of monodisperse particles with simultaneous control over structure (i.e. shape, size, composition) and function (i.e. cargo, surface structure). Unlike other particle fabrication techniques, PRINT is delicate and general enough to be compatible with a variety of important next-generation cancer therapeutic, detection and imaging agents, including various cargos (e.g. DNA, proteins, chemotherapy drugs, biosensor dyes, radio-markers, contrast agents), targeting ligands (e.g. antibodies, cell targeting peptides) and functional matrix materials (e.g. bioabsorbable polymers, stimuli responsive matrices, etc). Within the C-CCNE, researchers in the Lineberger Cancer Center and the Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy will use specially designed PRINT particles to reach new understandings and therapies in cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis and treatment. The C-CCNE will bring together researchers and clinicians not only at UNC but nationally and internationally to meet the Challenge Goal of eliminating the suffering and death from cancer by 2015. This will be accomplished by establishing a national NCI asset we refer to as the PARTICLE FOUNDRY. The PARTICLE FOUNDRY will be one of the outcomes of this project within the Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence at UNC. The PARTICLE FOUNDRY will be the portal for researchers around the world to gain access to UNC's breakthrough PRINT technology for the fabrication of "smart" functional particles for their studies and evaluations. As such, PRINT is a significant scientific and technological breakthrough which will allow the fabrication of heretofore inaccessible populations of nano-biomaterials which are poised to revolutionize and accelerate our translational understanding, detection and treatment of cancer.