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Every project supported by Gebert Rüf Stiftung is made accessible with a web presentation that informs about the core data of the project. With this public presentation, the foundation publishes the funding results achieved and contributes to the communication of science to society.

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Peptidic Targeted Transport System

Editorial

Für den Inhalt der Angaben zeichnet die Projektleitung verantwortlich.

Cooperation

Dieses von der Gebert Rüf Stiftung geförderte Projekt wird von folgenden weiteren Projektpartnern mitgetragen: Pharmaceutical Technology, Basel; LASCCO SA, Geneva

Project data

  • Project no: GRS-048/11 
  • Amount of funding: CHF 336'000 
  • Approved: 26.01.2012 
  • Duration: 08.2012 - 12.2015 
  • Area of activity:  Pilotprojekte, 1998 - 2018

Project management

Project description

Gene therapy and small molecule drug delivery enables the relief and healing of diverse diseases. However, it is reliant on a nano carrier system, which allows transport to the desired location to protect against early degeneration. In this context a new nano delivery system solely based on amino acids was developed to combine both small molecule drug and DNA delivery into a system that naturally degrades to release the therapeutics. Therefore, the body’s intrinsic degradation pathways allow the delivery, release, and finally, the clearance of the nanoparticle after application. The system is convincing in terms of high drug/gene loading and functionality, but notably through the «natural» amino acids.

The goal of the project is to develop a prototype as a universal platform for the delivery of multiple drugs and DNA strands for a cooperative therapeutic effect. We will modify and optimize the carrier system to combat a neurodegenerative disease in collaboration with Lascco SA.

What is special about the project?

The development of drug/gene delivery systems on newly designed amphiphilic peptide sequences is an emerging field of research. However, our system has the potential to work as a prototype for future developments and progress in gene therapy and combined treatments.

Status/Results

Recent investigations clarified the details in the self-assembly of our purely peptidic system into a multi compartment micelles structure. This is especially beneficial in terms of encapsulating hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs simultaneously. The embedding of short single stranded DNA has been proven. Preliminary results confirmed responsiveness of a release mechanism, ability to simultaneously load multiple cargoes, and showed promising results for enhancing the delivery of drugs without toxicity.

The collaboration with the Pharmaceutical Technology department of the University of Basel, LASCCO AG and the support of the «Gerbert Rüf Stiftung» enabled us to further optimize and test our system to put a new gene therapy tool in place.

Publications

de Bruyn Ouboter, D., et al., Hierarchical Organization of Purely Peptidic Amphiphiles into Peptide Beads. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2011. 115(30): p. 14583-14590;
Schuster, T.B., et al., Reversible peptide particle formation using a mini amino acid sequence. Soft Matter, 2010. 6(21): p. 5596-5604;
de Bruyn Ouboter, D., T. Schuster, V. Shanker, M. Heim and W. Meier, Multicompartment micelle-structured peptide nanoparticles: A new biocompatible gene- and drug-delivery tool, Journal of biomedical materials research. Part A, (2013), http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jbm.a.34778/abstract;jsessionid=1093D850D32C79A7B91541B885E1399E.f01t02
D. de Bruyn Ouboter, T. B. Schuster, S. J. Sigg and W. P. Meier, Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 2013, 112, 542-547.

Media

Links

http://www.chemie.unibas.ch/~meier/index.html
http://www.lascco.com

Persons involved in the project

Prof. Wolfgang Meier, Universität Basel, Projektleiter wolfgang.notexisting@nodomain.commeier@unibas.notexisting@nodomain.comch
Prof. J. Huwyler, Pharmaceutical Technology, University Basel joerg.notexisting@nodomain.comhuwyler@unibas.notexisting@nodomain.comch
Viktoriia Postupalenko, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Researcher, Universität Basel viktoriia.notexisting@nodomain.compostupalenko@unibas.notexisting@nodomain.comch
Jason Duskey, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Researcher, Universität Basel jasonthomas.notexisting@nodomain.comduskey@unibas.notexisting@nodomain.comch
Severin Sigg, Ph.D. Student, Universität Basel s.notexisting@nodomain.comsigg@unibas.notexisting@nodomain.comch
Samareh Azeredo da Silveira Lajaunias, PhD, LASCCO SA, Geneva samareh.notexisting@nodomain.comlajaunias@lascco.notexisting@nodomain.comcom

Last update to this project presentation  17.10.2018