Subventions et des contributions :

Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier. (2017-2018 à 2020-2021)

Delivering drugs using nanoparticles has been demonstrated in multiple cases to improve thex000D
ability of drugs to get to their target sites, particularly in cases in which drugs must bex000D
transported inside cells to be functional and/or drug must be transported from the bloodx000D
through hard-to-penetrate biological barriers (e.g. into the brain or through dense tissues suchx000D
as tumour masses). Starch nanoparticles (SNPs), developed by our partner EcoSynthetix,x000D
have particular potential for drug delivery in this context given their capacity for direct loadingx000D
of drug during fabrication, their extremely small sizes, their gel-like properties (and thusx000D
potential to deform under stress), and their biological inertness. However, there are twox000D
inherent limitations to using SNPs for drug delivery: (1) drug release from SNPs is very fastx000D
given their porous structures and (2) the small size of SNPs, while ideal for penetrating intox000D
the brain or deep into tumours, also induces relatively fast clearance of SNPs from normalx000D
circulation, restricting the capacity of SNPs to transport drugs to target sites. In this proposal,x000D
we aim to address these challenges by (1) engineering the surface of SNPs to adjust drugx000D
release rates to desired values and (2) developing methods of fabricating controlled clustersx000D
of SNPs with good circulation properties that can be selectively degraded where drug releasex000D
is desired (either by specific chemistry at the target site or by external activation after ax000D
specific time). We anticipate that such SNP-based materials will significantly improve thex000D
delivery of drugs not only deep inside tumours and both into and within the brain (our twox000D
proof-of-concept demonstrations) but also other diseases in which effective therapy is limitedx000D
by drug transport. Such capacity is anticipated to both improve health outcomes forx000D
Canadians suffering from such diseases as well as provide a new, value-added market tox000D
EcoSynthetix that will promote new job creation in Canada.