The use of systems that control the delivery of active substances, has led many researchers tofocus on the development of nanocarriers based on inorganic particles, synthetic polymers andbiopolymers. Great progress has been made, in particular, through the development of methods for thesynthesis of new materials with controllable/dedicated physicochemical properties. With the use of thenanoparticle platform as a drug delivery system, it is necessary to develop knowledge of theirbehaviour in biological systems. Unfortunately, despite careful selection of many favourablephysicochemical parameters of nanocarriers, they are often eliminated from the biological system as aresult of rapid deactivation in the process of opsonisation. The use of protective layers on the carriersis a way to trick the immune system and thereby modify the pharmacokinetic profile of drug delivery.
Nanoparticles entering biological systems are almost always covered with biofluids. Thus, todevelop selective delivery of nanoobjects to particular compartments of the body it is crucial tounderstand phenomena involved in conformational changes and the displacement of proteins at theinterface. From the nanomedical viewpoint, the phenomena of competitive binding and proteindisplacement – defined as the Vroman effect – are also extremely important because they determineselective delivery of nanoscale objects to specific compartments of the body.
The main scientific objective of this project is to develop a complete, quantitative description ofthe mechanisms governing the phenomena of protein adsorption on the dendrimer surface. Multidimensional research using advanced in-situ measurement techniques and molecular dynamics(MD) simulations allows conducting multifaceted study of the protein structure formation. Themechanisms of interaction of functional materials with different types of proteins present in theplasma, together with the analysis of conformational changes and reorganization of protein structureson the functional surfaces has great cognitive value. It will also contribute to a better understanding ofthe physicochemical mechanisms of creating protein layers on the polymer surface.
The results obtained in this project will contribute to a better understanding of the physicochemicalmechanisms of the formation of protein layers with controlled architecture and functionality atinterfaces.
