Monday, May 19, 2008 - 1:30 PM
Library Building, Rm LB-6 (Queensborough Community College)
260

Complex Particles and Patterned Substrates: Future Opportunities in Life Sciences and Material Science

Joseph M. DeSimone, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

 

To translate promising molecular discoveries into benefits for patients, we're taking a pharmaco-engineering systems approach to develop the next generation of delivery systems with programmable multi-functional capability. A key strategy is to apply manufacturing technologies from the microelectronics industry to fabricate polymeric delivery systems that are capable of multiple functions.  A novel method for the fabrication of organic particles on the order of tens of nanometers to several microns will be described.  Our imprint lithographic technique called PRINT (Particle Replication In Non-wetting Templates), takes advantage of the unique properties of elastomeric molds comprised of a low surface energy perfluoropolyether network, allowing the production of monodisperse, shape-specific nanoparticles from an extensive array of organic precursors.  This engineered nature of particle production has a number of advantages over the construction of traditional nanoparticles such as liposomes, dendrimers, and colloidal precipitates.  The nature of PRINT technology takes drug delivery for the first time into the uncharted realm of engineered drug therapies given its á la carte approach and versatility.  PRINT allows for the precise control over particle size, shape, composition, cargo, modulus and surface properties.  Key therapeutic parameters such as bioavailability, biodistribution, and target-specific cell penetration can be simultaneously designed into a therapy. Extensive in vitro and in vivo studies have begun focused on fundamental cellular uptake and intra-cellular trafficking of particles; in vivo biodistribution as a function of size, shape, surface chemistry and deformability; in vivo tissue and cellular targeting for autoimmune disease treatment and cancer treatment and diagnosis.