Biomod/2012/EPFL/NanoBioTailors
- Team Name: EPFL NanoBioTailors
- Institution Name: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
- Geographic Location: Lausanne, Switzerland
Team Supervisors:
- Prof. Philippe Renaud
- Prof. Francesco Stellacci
Team Mentor:
- Dr. Arnaud Bertsch
Team Members:
- Mohammad Mahdi Hasani-Sadrabadi
- Fatemeh Sadat Majedi
- Mojtaba Taghipoor
MIT Origami
Abstract
Effective Drug Delivery Vehicles Exhibiting Specific Deformation Programmability
The synthetic technique of DNA origami, involving a single scaffold strand being folded into arbitrary shapes through the attachment of smaller staple strands to various locations along its sequence, has provided a powerfully programmable framework for the spatial design of nanostructures. Our research has involved adding an additional layer of programmability to these constructs, the ability to respond to external stimuli viz. electromagnetic radiation and pH by means of conformational changes. In particular we are exploring how these stimuli stabilize/destabilize linkers in the DNA origami so as to cause the structure to collapse and expand; thereby dramatically enhancing the utility of DNA nanostructures in controlled particle release. An immediately apparent application for such a technology is the precise delivery of drugs at certain targets as a result of stimulated release.
Video
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Team
Undergrads
- Aliya Dincer
- Maria Elena Martinez
- Michael Hernandez
Graduate Student Mentors
- Matthew Adendorff
- Ishan Gupta
Faculty Mentor
- Professor Mark Bathe
Useful Websites