Carolina Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence

描述(由申请人提供)：卡罗莱纳癌症纳米技术卓越中心(C-CCNE)将把北卡罗来纳大学最近在纳米粒子工程方面的开创性突破与莱恩伯格癌症中心在癌症理解/治疗方面的世界级卓越结合在一起，为癌症诊断和治疗提供治疗、检测和成像试剂。北卡罗来纳大学的物理学家最近在用于压印光刻的材料方面取得了突破，这是一种改编自微电子行业的新兴技术，使直接制造和收获单分散、特定形状的纳米生物材料的方法变得极其通用和灵活。该方法被称为非润湿模板中的颗粒复制或印刷，允许制造单分散颗粒，同时控制结构(即形状、大小、成分)和功能(即货物、表面结构)。与其他粒子制造技术不同，Print非常精细和通用，足以与各种重要的下一代癌症治疗、检测和成像试剂兼容，包括各种货物(例如DNA、蛋白质、化疗药物、生物传感器染料、放射性标志物、造影剂)、靶向配体(例如抗体、细胞靶向肽)和功能基质材料(例如可生物吸收聚合物、刺激响应基质等)。在C-CCNE中，莱恩伯格癌症中心和医药学院的研究人员将使用特别设计的打印颗粒，以在癌症预防、检测、诊断和治疗方面达成新的理解和治疗方法。C-CCNE将不仅将北卡罗来纳大学的研究人员和临床医生聚集在一起，而且将在国内和国际上实现到2015年消除癌症痛苦和死亡的挑战目标。这将通过建立一个国家NCI资产来实现，我们称之为颗粒铸造厂。颗粒铸造将是北卡罗来纳大学癌症纳米技术卓越中心这一项目的成果之一。颗粒铸造厂将成为世界各地的研究人员获得北卡罗来纳大学突破性打印技术的门户，用于为他们的研究和评估制造“智能”功能颗粒。因此，Print是一项重大的科学和技术突破，它将使迄今为止无法接触到的纳米生物材料群体的制造成为可能，这些材料将彻底改变并加速我们对癌症的理解、检测和治疗。

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.