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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Nano-OligoMed (Hybrid Nanostructured Oligonucleotide Platforms for Biomedical Applications)

Teaser

Nanotechnology has received widespread attention in the last several decades due to the technological breakthroughs it has enabled across sectors from electronics to medicine. Towards the great challenges that nanotechnology arise, Nano-OligoMed has the ambition to establish...

Summary

Nanotechnology has received widespread attention in the last several decades due to the technological breakthroughs it has enabled across sectors from electronics to medicine. Towards the great challenges that nanotechnology arise, Nano-OligoMed has the ambition to establish and support a network of international collaboration, enabling a collaborative scientific team to effectively use a diversity of approaches and strategies to generate and test hybrid nanomaterials for the efficient and safe systemic delivery of oligonucleotide-based therapeutic agents, this therapeutic agents have proven applicability in curing most of the more important human diseases.
To this end, we have set-up a joint multidisciplinary scientific collaborative programme that through exchange, international mobility, and strongly collaborative transfer of knowledge and training activities between 4 European and 3 extra-European countries, will bring together leading experts under the field of “nanomaterials in biomedicine”. The scientific aim of Nano-OligoMed is the creation of degradable hybrid structures that combine the rigid, inert silica with the delicate programmable oligonucleotides or artificial oligonucleotide-mimics. The possibility to develop novel oligonucleotide-based materials will enable a) the degradation of the drug carrier at the presence of a specific input as a function of the intrinsic bio-responsive feature of oligonucleotides, b) the activation of a therapeutic function as a result of the bio-molecular interaction between the oligonucleotide-based material and the molecular target (i.e. miRNAs) and c) the delivery of the chemical payload (DNA and/or artificial mimics, even in combination with cancer drugs) upon cell internalization. The international academic networking, the broadening of the research skills, the educational activities, will provide to young (PhD students) and senior scientists, specific competences in the field of materials sciences, nanotechnology, molecular biology and molecular medicine
To date numerous nanoparticle formulations have been designed and tested to great effect in small animal models for cancer therapy, but the translation of the small animal results to clinical success has been limited and the commercialization of nanomaterials restricted to very few examples. The challenges in targeted drug delivery using nanoparticles can be overcome through understanding the limitations of actual nanoparticle approaches and maximizing the existing capabilities of nanoparticle formulations. Data accumulated over the past 40 years brought up few general key concepts that are considered fundamental to drug-delivery systems (DDS) for controlled release in cancer therapy: i) drug-delivery efficacy is intimately related to the chemical structure of the material. For example, minor chemical modifications to polymer structure or functionalizations can drastically affect material degradation, safety, and targeting. ii) the physical shape and size of DDS matters; this can affect material properties, biodistribution, and even interactions with the immune system. iii) DDS actively engage with the body, even when they are not designed to. Moreover, it is important to note that the introduction of oligonucleotides, protein- and peptide-based treatments in nanomedicine has revolutionized the field of targeted drug delivery by showing a tremendous potential when intervening at the very biomolecular level to tackle diseases and reprogram defective cell statuses. Unfortunately, even most of biomolecule-based therapeutics are rapidly inactivated in vivo when appropriate protection is not applied. Many controlled release technologies have been developed for a programmable sustained delivery of macromolecules, including methods based on diffusion-controlled matrices and reservoirs, chemically regulated biodegradable and bioerodible materials, and solvent-activated hydrogels and osmotic pumps. Further improvements were introdu

Work performed

In this reporting period, the Nano-Oligomed team has worked in generating new materials able to transport and deliver oligonucleotide-based drugs to cells. Promising results have been achieved with several new nano-bio materials showing promising properties, the safety and applicability of these materials is being tested in order to proceed to the next steps towards their practical use. We believe that the use of novel multifunctional nanomaterials in drug delivery represents the horizon of the next generation nanoparticles, generating entirely new therapeutic paradigms in disease. In particular, we believe that oligonucleotide-based hybrid materials represent a forefront technology that can take advantage of the unique bio-responsive features of oligonucleotides, because of the high selectivity for their target RNA or DNA and the intrinsic programmability of nucleic acid structures already demonstrated. Nano-OligoMed aims to develop different classes of hybrid nanostructured materials that display distinctive combination of bio-inspired supramolecular structures, that can be used to carry and deliver active molecules (oligonucleotide and its mimics, cancer drugs).

Final results

Several new materials that hybridize already existing delivery systems in order to make them compatible with oligonucleotides have been produced and are being tested, and evaluated at different levels. At the end of the project, we expect to prove that some of them can be useful as drug delivery systems.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.nano-oligomed.net.