Researchers At the University of Jena Develop Nanoparticles to Deliver Drugs Directly to Disease Sites

Drugs usually have side effects because they have to be administered in high doses to get the active ingredient to where it is needed. In the SFB Polytarget at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany, researchers are looking for alternative carrier materials for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. They are developing tailor-made polymer nanoparticles in which drugs can be packaged and targeted to their site of action in the body.

Dr. Christiane Höppener and Prof. Dr. Volker Deckert, head of the Nanoscopy research department at Leibniz IPHT, are investigating which factors influence the effectiveness of chemical reactions within these nanoparticles. In particular, Höppener is investigating micelles, tiny structures made of amphiphilic block copolymers. These can self-assemble into a core-shell structure, in which the core is water-repellent and the shell is water-attracting – ideal for the transport and targeted release of drugs in the body.

“We want to understand which properties influence the chemical cross-linking reaction and how reversible cross-linking can be used for drug release,” explains Christiane Höppener. Using TERS and atomic force microscopy (AFM), she analyzes the chemical and nanomechanical properties of the micelles with high spatial resolution.

The results provide deep insights into the reaction mechanisms on the nanoscale and illustrate how crucial it is to control the properties of the interface for the performance of the nanoparticles.

Original publication: https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202206451