Molly Stevens1
Imperial College London1
Bio-responsive hybrid materials are of growing importance with potential applications in therapeutic delivery and tissue engineering. In this talk, I will provide an overview of our recent developments in the design of biointerfaces with interesting features such as the incorporation of biological and topographical cues to enhance tissue regeneration, wound healing and cell differentiation [1]. I will show how we are using remote fields for in vivo remote-triggered hydrogelation of lipid based nanocarriers for controlled drug delivery [2] and advanced manufacturing strategies to engineer complex 3D architectures that mimic anisotropic multiscale tissue structures and to generate spatially arranged bioinstructive cues [3]. I will discuss the multi-scale approach that we use to inform the design of smart biomaterials - from molecular dynamics simulation that help us understand self-assembly and organisation at the nanoscale [4], to Raman-based techniques used to visualise the molecular composition of living tissues [5] and to characterise single nanoparticles in a high-throughput label-free manner using our patented SPARTA™ technology [6]. SPARTA™ has become an integral tool for the design of nanotherapeutics, with recent examples including DOPC-containing lipid nanoparticles for nucleic acid delivery and dendrimersome-based systems for controlled delivery of antibacterial drugs, and for profiling extracellular vesicles (EVs) for detection of breast cancer through a minimally invasive liquid biopsy. Finally, I will discuss how we are establishing effective translational pipelines to drive our innovations to clinical application.<br/><br/>[1] T. von Erlach, … M. M. Stevens. “Cell geometry dependent changes in plasma membrane order di-rect stem cell signalling and fate.” Nature Materials. 2018. 17: 237-242.<br/>[2] V. Nele, … M. M. Stevens. “Ultrasound triggered enzymatic gelation.” Advanced Materials. 2020. 32(7):1905914.<br/>[3] L. Ouyang, … M. M. Stevens. “Expanding and optimizing 3D bioprinting capabilities using comple-mentary network bioinks.” Science Advances. 2020. 6(38): eabc5529.<br/>[4] A. Belessiotis-Richards, … M. M. Stevens. “Coarse grained simulations suggest the epsin N-terminal homology domain can sense membrane curvature without its terminal amphipathic helix.” ACS Nano. 2020. 14(12):16919-16928.<br/>[5] H. Hogset… M. M. Stevens. “In vivo biomolecular imaging of zebrafish embryos using confocal Ra-man spectroscopy.” Nature Communications. 2020. 11:6172.<br/>[6] J. Penders… M. Stevens. “Single particle automated Raman trapping analysis.” Nature Communications. 2018, 9: 4256