About the Project
Nanoparticles are considered as a primary vehicle for targeted therapies because they can pass biological barriers, enter and distribute within cells by energy-dependent pathways. So far, most studies have shown that nanoparticle properties, such as size, and surface, can influence how cells internalise nanoparticles. In particular, carbohydrates can target specific receptors in cancerous cells. Here, carbohydrate nanoparticles are designed as a vehicle to encapsulate QDs and drugs. Carbohydrate nanoparticles can be synthesised using various methods tailored to the needs of the application and the type of drugs to be encapsulated. The combination of a hydrophilic carbohydrate head with a hydrophobic tail makes a perfect surfactant structure, which will facilitate the micelle formation to generate the carbohydrate nanoparticle in aqueous solution. The synthesised NP-QDs-Drug system is: stable in blood; non-toxic; biodegradable, which provides controlled release; of sub-cellular size; biocompatible with tissue and cells. Consequently carbohydrate nanoparticles possess great advantages over the polymeric nanoparticles, such as improved hydrophilicity and degradation rate, and show a high potential for development in targeted drug delivery.
The addition of non-toxic SiQDs in encapsulation provides intrinsic orange-red photoluminescence which enables monitoring of both accumulation and degradation in vitro and in vivo. The strong red photoluminescence is stable in biological environments and is not absorbed by cells, which will provide sufficient information for monitoring the drug delivery.
Project start date: October 2019
Mode of study: Full-time
Entry requirements: Minimum UK 2:1.
Funding Notes
This PhD project is offered on a self-funding basis. It is open to applicants with funding or those applying to funding sources. Details of tuition fees can be found at http://www.uea.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research-degrees/fees-and-funding.
A bench fee is also payable on top of the tuition fee to cover specialist equipment or laboratory costs required for the research. The amount charged annually will vary considerably depending on the nature of the project and applicants should contact the primary supervisor for further information about the fee associated with the project.
The project may be filled before the closing date, so early application is encouraged.
References
i) Jayshree H. Ahire, Mehrnaz Behray, Carl A. Webster, Qi Wang, Victoria Sherwood, Nattika Saengkrit, Uracha Ruktanonchai, Noppawan Woramongkolchai, and Yimin Chao, Advanced Healthcare Materials, 4, 1877-1886, (2015)
ii) Jayshree H. Ahire, Isabelle Chambrier , Anja Mueller , Yongping Bao , and Yimin Chao,
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 5, 7384-7391 (2013)
iii) Qi Wang, Yongping Bao, Jayshree Ahire, Yimin Chao, Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2, 459-466 (2013)
iv) Jayshree H. Ahire, Qi Wang, Paul R. Coxon, Girish Malhotra, Rik Brydson, Rongjun Chen, and Yimin Chao, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 4, 3285-3292 (2012)
v) Qi Wang, Yongping Bao, Xiaohong Zhang, Paul R. Coxon, Upali A. Jayasooriya and Yimin Chao, Advanced Healthcare Materials, 1, 189-198 (2012)
Continue with Facebook
