Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	EP/F003188/1
Title:	Enzyme-Triggerable Stealth Release (ETSR) of targeted nanoparticles for cancer gene therapy
Principal Investigator:	Thanou, Professor M
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Chemistry
Organisation:	Imperial College London
Scheme:	Standard Research
Starts:	12 November 2007	Ends:	30 April 2010	Value (£):	387,513
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Biological & Medicinal Chem. Drug Formulation & Delivery Medical science & disease
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Healthcare Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
Related Grants:
Panel History:	Panel Date Panel Name Outcome 28 Jun 2007 Healthcare Engineering Panel (ENG) Announced
Summary on Grant Application Form
Targeted drug delivery to disease tissues like tumours is the ultimate therapeutic strategy. If drugs can accumulate in tumour tissue, then unwanted side effects including cellular toxicity can be avoided and therapeutic effects may be improved since both dose and efficacy can increase. In this project our main aim is to harness the potential of nanomedicine by preparing self-assembly, synthetic nanoparticles that carry drugs inside but have and a polymer coating on the outside. However, while the polymer coating is excellent in helping to improve blood-circulation times, local release of encapsulated drugs in or near tumour target cells is heavily impaired. This problem should be soluble by ensuring that the polymer can be released at the required time inside the tumour itself bringing cell death exclusively to tumour cells. Our specific approach is to introduce polymers with peptide sequences that are also substrates for tumour specific enzymes. When such peptide modified nanoparticles reach tumours, those enzymes present should then strip-off the polymer coating revealing core nanoparticles that can easily enter cells and deliver encapsulated drug(s) to local tumour cells. We will construct these nanoparticles by preparing all necessary building blocks chemically and assemble these in such way that peptide sequences will be readily available for the tumour specific enzyme(s). Nucleic acids will used as the first drugs since these can be very specific and are arguably safer than the anticancer cytotoxic agents.
Key Findings
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Potential use in non-academic contexts
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Project URL:
Further Information:
Organisation Website:	http://www.imperial.ac.uk