Regenerative Medicine using novel nanomaterials.

Regeneration of tissues and organs is an exciting area of research, and we are currently developing a nanostructured scaffold based approach for tissue regeneration. The work involves considerable in vitro cell culture studies including stem cell culture studies to understand the cell-nanomaterial interactions and the nature of cell attachment and proliferation on nanomaterials.

Early diagnostics and treatment of diseases such as cancer through cancer nanotechnology.

The centre is engaged in the development of new nanoparticles, especially multifunctional nanoparticles that are also non-toxic to be used as carriers of medicines. The centre is also developing techniques for biofunctionalisation to enable targeting specific diseases tissues through suitable biomarkers, Nanopharmaceuticals for enhanced bioavailability, sustained release and targeted delivery to diseased organs. This includes drug encapsulation in biodegradable shells that are biofunctionalised to specific target cells through suitable ligand-receptor interactions. Creating nanoformulations of conventional drugs are also an area of research to increase bioavailability.

Medical devices with improved biocompatibility and function using nanomaterials.

A serious shortcoming of most devices is their limited lifetime either because of rejection by the immune system or poor biocompatibility or eventual mechanical failure. Nanomaterials provide great opportunities to improve the lifetime of devices and modulate their surface activity for better biological compatibility.

Development of biomedical nanosensors.

These include use of nanocantilevers, novel nanoparticle-based sensors using semiconductors, or novel sensing techniques such as surface plasmon resonance. The idea is the development of high throughput rapid sensing of multiple analytes for applications such as screening of infectious diseases.

Nanotoxicology – study of the toxic effects of nanomaterials.

While nanomaterials have tremendous potential in a variety of applications in medicine, there is still inadequate understanding of the long-term effects of such materials on the human body, such as tumerogenicity, immune response, cytotoxicity, and inflammatory responses. Such studies are now being commenced at the centre.

Novel Nano Delivery Carrier for Systemic Control and Release of Parathyroid Hormone for Treatment of Bone Diseases

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is an 84-amino acid polypeptide that has been clinically tested for several years for treating osteoporosis. Studies have shown that small amounts of PTH, if given daily by injection, can lead to increases in bone formation. The major disadvantages of this treatment are the mode of delivery of the drug (i.e. daily injection from several weeks to several months). The scope of this proposal is to identify a novel delivery method for either systemic or oral application that could result in the release and bioavailability of PTH 1-34 peptide in a sustained and prolonged manner.

Novel Biodegradable Thermo-Responsive Nano-Vehicles for Cancer Drug Delivery Applications

A bottleneck in the application of thermoresponsive polymers for in vivo drug release applications is the difficulty in controlling the temperature (heating-up) of these systems inside the body for optional and efficient drug release. We propose to overcome this difficulty using novel nanoparticles that can produce heat under irradiation with radio-frequency waves. These nanoparticles such as gold or iron-oxide can be incorporated into the thermo-responsive polymeric particles by chemical means such that under irradiation with radio-frequency waves (RF) from an external source, the nanoparticles will heat–up, which in turn sensitises the thermo-responsive polymer to release the embedded drug. As the nano-polymeric vehicle with metal nanoparticles can be made to target the disease site and the RF field is highly penetrating to the tissue, greater specificity and control of the drug release will be possible in the proposed project.

Preparation of Novel Biodegradable Chitin Scaffolds with Hydroxyapatite/ ZnO Nanoparticles for Wound Dressing Applications

The primary objective of this project is to develop such gels, scaffolds based on chitin with HAp/ZnO nanoparticles for wound tissue engineering applications. This proposal will focus on research into such natural scaffold-based nanodressings, wherein the scaffold is nanostructured and, in addition, there is incorporated into the scaffold, hydroxyapatite (HAp) and ZnO nanoparticles for speeding healing and preventing inflammation and infection.

The following research laboratories have been established:

• High Resolution Microscopy Lab with a high resolution Scanning Electron Microscope and an Atomic Force Microscope with a surface nanoprofiler.
• Nanochemistry Lab for wet chemical processing of nanomaterials and nanoparticles with centrifuges, electronic balances, magnetic stirrers, oil/water baths and hoods.
• Mechanical Testing Lab with a servohydraulic computer controlled MTS testing facility for mechanical characterization
• Chemical and Thermal and Size Characterization Lab with FTIR, UV-Vis Spectrophotometer, Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC), a Gel Permeation Chromatograph (GPC) and a Laser Nanoparticle Sizer with zeta potential measurements capability
• A Polymer Chemistry Lab for processing of polymer nanomaterials
• A Nanofiber and Surface Modification Lab with electrospinning and electrochemical work station and well as surface polishing equipment
• A Polymer Processing Lab for melt processing of nanocomposites
• A Cell Culture Lab and stem cell lab
• Cell Sorter Lab
• X-Ray Diffraction Lab