CAREER: Nanostructured Soft Substrates for Responsive Bioactive Coatings

非技术性总结：伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-冠军分校材料研究部生物材料项目的职业奖旨在支持阐明生物相容性脂质材料关键基本特性的研究。这项研究将使纳米结构，药物和核酸的涂层材料的设计成为可能。这项研究的潜在成果可能是设计智能材料的能力，这些材料能够与人体接触，以愈合伤口，修复骨骼，以及提供药物，疫苗，抗生素等，通过远程可编程输送系统，在正确的位置和预定的时间点，以所需的药物负荷。这种能力可以避免不必要的手术、定期去医院进行静脉给药，并减少不良副作用。该奖项将把研究活动纳入培训和外联活动，包括通过为材料科学领域的女孩开发一个基于主动学习的中学夏令营，积极招募STEM领域代表性不足的少数民族学生。此外，该奖项还包括与三个不同人群的外联活动，即中学和即将入学的研究生以及当地监狱的囚犯。研究人员将在一个研讨会上分享研究成果，该研讨会是作为教育正义项目的一部分正在开发的工程领域的医学挑战，该项目为被监禁的个人提供教育机会。事实证明，这一努力在降低囚犯不当行为发生率方面产生了很大影响。此外，该项目还提供与家庭支持小组相结合的教学计划，以提高囚犯子女的教育成就。技术概要：该职业奖支持一项研究，该研究旨在阐明生物相容性新材料的关键基本特性，该材料是由不同基质上的非双层脂质层制备的。有了这个奖项，研究人员将研究分子尺度的过程，导致高度结构化的表面沉积的非双层脂质薄膜的药物和核酸的交付。该项目的主要目标是：a）了解表面上脂质和相关物种的多态性; B）根据底层表面和环境线索微调膜纳米结构;以及c）将脂质-膜复合物整合到表面上。 该研究人员将改变表面化学、基底几何形状和环境，以确定沉积在表面上的脂质-药物和脂质-核酸复合物的结构和方向的条件。作为这项研究的一部分，研究人员将研究分子尺度的过程，导致高度结构化的表面沉积的非双层脂质薄膜，用于药物和核酸的输送。在这项工作中，研究人员将结合联合收割机不同的表征方法，如小角度X射线衍射与细胞培养试验，以揭示基于脂质的薄膜在表面上的自组装的基本理解。这项研究在科学上的广泛影响是可能设计具有可预测纳米结构和药物/基因洗脱谱的设备涂层材料。该奖项将把科学成果纳入推广和教育，针对三个不同的人群，即中学和即将入学的研究生，以及当地监狱的囚犯。

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:This CAREER award by the Biomaterials program in the Division of Materials Research to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champion is in support of studies to elucidate key fundamental properties of biocompatible lipid materials. This research would enable the design of coating materials for nanostructures, drugs and nucleic acids. Potential outcome from this research could be the ability to design smart materials that are able to interface with the human body to heal wounds, repair bones, as well as deliver drugs, vaccines, antibiotics, etc., by remotely programmable delivery system with the desired drug load, at the correct location and predetermined time point. Such capabilities could obviate unnecessary surgeries, periodic hospital visits for intravenous drug administration, and reduction in the undesirable side effects. This award will integrate the research activities into training and outreach activities, and include active recruitment of underrepresented minority students in STEM by developing an active-learning based middle-school summer camp for girls in materials science. Additionally, this award included outreach activities with three different populations, namely middle school and incoming graduate students, and inmates at a local prison. The investigator will share the research findings in a workshop about the medical challenges in engineering areas that are being developed as part of the Education Justice Project, which offers educational opportunities to incarcerated individuals. This effort has proven to be of high impact in reducing the rates of inmate misconduct. In addition, this program offers an instructional program combined with family support groups that could result in better educational accomplishments of inmates' children.TECHNICAL SUMMARY:This CAREER award supports a research in the development of studies to elucidate key fundamental properties of novel materials that are biocompatible and prepared from non-bilayer lipids layers on different substrates. With this award, the investigator will study molecular-scale processes leading to highly structured surface deposited non-bilayer lipid thin films for the delivery of drugs and nucleic acids. The main goals of the project are: a) to understand polymorphism of lipid and associated species on surfaces; b) to fine tune film nanostructures with underlying surfaces and environmental cues; and c) to integrate lipid-film complexes on the surface. This investigator will vary surface chemistry, substrate geometry and environment to establish the conditions that decide the structure and orientation of lipid-drug and lipid-nucleic acid complexes deposited onto surfaces. As part of this research, the investigator will study molecular-scale processes leading to highly structured surface deposited non-bilayer lipid thin films for the delivery of drugs and nucleic acids. In this work, the researcher will combine different characterization methods such as Small Angle X-ray Diffraction with cell culture assays to unveil a fundamental understanding of the self-assembly of lipid-based thin-films onto a surface. The scientific broader impacts of this research are possible design of device-coating materials with predictable nanostructures and drug/gene elution profiles. This award will integrate the scientific outcomes into outreach and education, targeting three different populations, namely middle school and incoming graduate students, and inmates at a local prison.