Synthesis biodegradable quantum materials for therapeutic applications

此次与威斯康星大学的合作旨在开发一种基于石墨的材料加工方法，生产创新的无毒可生物降解量子尺寸材料，以应对生物医学应用中的挑战。现有的用于生物医学应用的纳米颗粒尺寸较大(10~100 nm)，并且含有材料加工过程中产生的残留有毒化学物质，严重影响了生物材料的生物相容性，限制了生物材料的功能。许多生物分子和细胞结构比用于生物医学工程的颗粒要小得多。例如，DNA分子的直径为1-2 nm，细胞核膜上的孔小于9 nm。我们相信，将颗粒尺寸降低到量子状态(小于5 nm)，更接近生物分子和细胞结构的尺寸，将为药物输送、组织工程和治疗药物开辟新的可能性。申请人开发了一种利用MHz频率飞秒激光处理激光烧蚀材料的方法，可以生成具有独特空间结构和稀有相的三维纳米结构，这是任何其他方法都难以获得的。生成的纳米结构是无毒的，其形态、结构和性质特别适合于药物输送、遗传学和组织工程。威斯康星大学带来了再生医学、细胞生物学和模拟自然的生物材料方面的专业知识。我们将一起研究从石墨中生成碳基量子结构的方法。石墨因其可生物降解性而被选为起始材料。早期的研究表明，碳颗粒可以很容易地从有机系统中清除出来。通过纳米尺度的层次结构和生物化学性质，靶向递送、受控释放的治疗剂、治疗和治疗将被利用。拟议的研究项目为高质量的人才培训和合作研究提供了机会，同时通过其创新为加拿大的经济和医疗体系带来了深远的好处。

This collaboration with the University of Wisconsin is aimed to develop a graphite-based material processing methods that produces innovative toxin-free biodegradable quantum-sized materials to tackle challenges in biomedical applications. Existing nanoparticles used for biomedical application are of large size (10~100nm) and contains residue toxic chemical substances resulting from material processing, which severely affect the biocompatibility and limit the functionality of the biomaterials. Many biomolecules and cellular structures are much smaller than the particles used for biomedical engineering. For instance, DNA molecules are 1-2nm in diameter and pores on cell nuclei membrane are less than 9 nm. We believe bringing particle size down to quantum regime (less than 5nm), closer to the size of biomolecules and cellular structure, will open up new possibilities for drug delivery, tissue engineering and therapeutic medicines. The applicant has developed a laser ablative materials processing method using MHz frequency femtosecond lasers, which could generate three dimensional nanostructures with unique spatial architecture and rare phases that are hard to obtain by any other means. The generated nanostructure is toxin-free and its morphology, architecture and properties are particularly suitable for drug delivery, theragnostics and tissue engineering. The University of Wisconsin brings expertise in regenerative medicine, cell biology and nature-mimicking biomaterials. Together, we will investigate the method of generating carbon-based quantum-sized structures from graphite. Graphite is selected as starting material due to its biodegradability. Earlier research has shown that carbon particles can be easily cleared out of organic system. Through nanoscale dimensional hierarchy and bio-chemical properties the targeted delivery, controlled release of therapeutic agents, theranostics, therapy and will be leveraged. The proposed research project provides opportunity for high quality personnel training and collaborative research while being profoundly beneficial to the Canadian economy and healthcare system through its innovations.