Integrating 2D Materials into Drug Delivery Systems Improves Cancer Treatment

Nanotechnology holds numerous potential benefits for treating and diagnosing disease, including the ability to transport complex therapeutic cargoes and target specific tissues. 2D-materials, embedded inside therapeutic nanoparticles, have the ability to enhance the therapeutic potency. Specifically, 2D materials loaded into liposomes sensitize the tumor to treatment, improving patient-specific therapeutic activity. The talk will also describe how the liposomal lipid composition affects its ability to internalize into triple-negative breast cancer cells, looking at the different molecular features, and how these can be leveraged to induce an anti-tumor immune response.<br/>The evolution of drug delivery systems into synthetic cells, programmed nanoparticles with an autonomous syn-bio capacity to synthesize diagnostic and therapeutic proteins inside the body, and their promise for treating disease, will be discussed.<br/>Integrating inorganic 2D materials into drug delivery systems enable new therapeutic capabilities.<br/>References:<br/>1. Synthetic cells with self-activating optogenetic proteins communicate with natural cells, Adir et al. Nature Communications, 2022, 13, 2328<br/>2. Implanted synthetic cells trigger tissue angiogenesis through de novo production of recombinant growth factors, Chen et al., PNAS, 2022, 119 (38) e2207525119<br/><br/>ACKNOWLEDGMENT: This work has been funded by the Horizon European EIC Patfinder Project "PERSEUS" [grant number 101099423] and European Union (ERC, NutriCells, 101113408).