Engineering capsosomes for improved treatment of intracellular bacterial infections

• Applicant: Dr. Anna Klöckner
• Subject Area: Biological and Biomimetic Chemistry ; Medical Physics, Biomedical Technology
• Term: from 2017 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 393306335

Infectious diseases caused by bacteria are a significant public health challenge and a major cause of human death globally. Antibiotics are considered pivotal for the treatment and prevention of bacterial infections. However, the success of antibiotic therapy is limited by drug resistance, inadequate drug concentration at infection sites or severe side effects. Nanoengineered drug delivery systems may offer an approach to bypass these limitations and to improve antibiotic treatment. Capsosomes are carrier polymer capsules containing liposomal subcompartments that have a tremendous potential as drug delivery vehicles. This system has several advantages, including the local administration, high loading efficiencies, stimuli-sensitive and on demand release of drugs at the target site. In this project, I propose to engineer capsosomes encapsulating antibiotics to improve treatment of intracellular bacterial infections. The group of Prof. Molly Stevens at Imperial College London is a world leading research group in nanomaterial-based systems that have a host of applications in regenerative medicine and biosensing. Combining my expertise in bacterial drug resistance and cultivation of microorganisms with the experience of the Stevens group in bioengineering and drug delivery systems, this project will deliver a new strategy to overcome the current constraint of antibiotic treatment regimes.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: United Kingdom
• Host: Professorin Molly Stevens, Ph.D.