Application deadline: 3rd March
Interviews to be held: 31 March 2021
The first semester of this project will be based at the University of Manchester and the remaining duration will be based at the University Sheffield as this CDT is a partnership between the two universities.
The transmission and amplification of chemical signals across lipid bilayer membranes is central to many biological processes, from the development of multicellular organisms to information processing in the nervous system. This signal transduction is often associated with an amplified signalling cascade. The ability to reproduce such processes in artificial systems has potential applications in sensing, controlled drug delivery and communication between compartments in tissue-like constructs of membrane compartments. Furthermore, the development of systems that can modulate biomolecule activity, protein immobilisation, and cell adhesion and migration at the liquid–solid interface will be tremendously useful in diverse biological and medical applications. Mimicking the dynamic properties of biological systems requires the creation of responsive artificial systems that can control the presentation of regulatory signals to dynamically regulate biological functions in response to applied stimuli.
For example, the ability to detect local changes in pH is important in the detection of disease; so the development of methods for rapid, non-invasive assessment of changes in pH in complex media is important. As well as detecting changes in the contacting medium or the presence of specific signalling molecules, it is desirable to modulate protein or cellular interactions with synthetic surfaces that can respond to the signal by producing the controlled release of any desired therapeutic – leading to a more effective sensing and responding system.
Main questions to be answered
The main goal of this project will be to create a biomimetic transducer system which can respond to the complex environment of biological media, amplifying any signal and reacting to release novel materials as desired. The system will be generic, so that different targets can be addressed, and any small molecule released in reaction to the surrounding environment. The system will be dynamic, capable of amplifying the chosen signal and of returning to a resting state when the surrounding environment returns to its original condition. In earlier work, we have established a novel and versatile system which functions within vesicles. We aim to integrate this system within suspended membranes near patterned surfaces, so that the solid state can react to “wet” biological conditions.
EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Biomedical Materials
This project is part of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Biomedical Materials. All available projects are listed here.
Find out how to apply, with full details on eligibility and funding here.