Development of shape specific polymeric nanoparticles and study of their dispersion and toxicology after pulmonary application in murine lung (NanoImprint Pharmakon, NIP)
In the past the encapsulation of therapeutical agents in polymeric particles was successfully used for developing new carrier systems for drug targeting (determining the location of action) as well as controlled drug release (determining the release duration). Up to the present the most interesting particle parameters for manipulation and optimization of the in vivo behavior (in living organism) of such an agent carrier particle are the design parameters like particle size, polymer type and surface chemistry.
The design parameter particle shape, which also is assumed to have a great influence on the in vivo behavior, has not been analyzed attentively up to now. This is due to the limited techniques available for producing non-spherical particles. The unique physicochemical properties of such particles however, provide distinct advantages as novel carrier systems. Thus first studies show that a rational design of the carrier systems allows control over the in vivo behavior, so the cellular uptake can be optimized by selective particle shape variation of the carrier system. Until now only few attempts to produce shape specific polymeric nanoparticle carrier systems have been described.
The key technology which provides a monodisperse distribution of polymeric nanoparticles and a high reproducibility accompanied by a sufficient quantity for following cell experiments is the NanoImprint Technology. This field of research, especially 3D imprint, is established at the INA and also carried out with very high resolution in other research projects here. With NanoImprint Technology the design parameters such as size and material as well as shape can be adjusted precisely and varied in a wide spectrum. Thus the task of the INA in the NIP project will be the development and optimization of a process for producing polymeric nanoparticles of different shapes and sizes as well as the characterization of the nanoparticles with respect to their physical properties.
The biopharmaceutical analysis (in vivo/vitro) will be performed by the research group of Prof. Dr. Thomas Kissel from the Institute of Pharmaceutical Technologies and Biopharmacy of the Philipps-University Marburg and the department of Internal Medicine (Pneumology) of the Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen.
This project is based on a cooperation between the Institute of Pharmaceutical Technologies and Biopharmacy (Faculty of Pharmacy 16 , Philipps-University Marburg, Germany), the department of Internal Medicine (Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen, University Hospital Giessen and Marburg) and the Institute of Nanostructure Technologies and Analytics (INA, University of Kassel, Germany).
