Launch of a research project at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences to investigate new biomedical materials for the treatment of cancer cells.
Kleve/Kamp-Lintfort, 26 April 2016: The ‘MINERVA’ project is an international and multidisciplinary research project investigating new biomedical materials for the treatment of cancer cells. Through the interlinked research carried out at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences, the Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry in Russia and the ‘Université François Rabelais de Tours’ in France, the aim is to develop new biomedical materials that can contribute to the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.
During the 24-month project, new structures will be combined and tested to create defined hybrid nano-objects. Hybrid nano-objects are minute compounds, measuring one millionth of a millimetre, consisting of two different types of defined structures: organic structures made of carbon and oxygen, and inorganic structures made of gold or metal oxides. Chemically branched compounds serve as a foundation for stabilising the nanoparticles and are intended to generate self-organising hybrid systems with defined nanostructures. The surface properties of the hybrid nano-objects are also being investigated and represent an important aspect for their future application.
Unlike treatment with conventional chemotherapy, which also damages or removes healthy tissue, the newly developed nanomaterials are designed to transport the active substances selectively into the cancer cells and make them visible by changing the colour of the tissue. “Through our developments, we aim to offer affected patients a new quality of life. This should make it possible to avoid the need for a mastectomy in cases of breast cancer. A colour-detection system we have developed should enable the operating surgeon to identify the diseased tissue more easily through colour-coding,” explains Prof. Dr Amir Fahmi, Professor of Materials Science at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences.
In addition to Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, represented by Prof. Dr Amir Fahmi, the participating universities include the Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry in Russia, represented by Prof. Dr Alexey Feofanov, Dr Ksenia Kudryashova and Anastasia Ignatova; and the “Université François Rabelais de Tours” in France, represented by Prof. Igor Chourpa, Dr Emilie Allard-Vannier, Dr Franck Bonnier and Dr Katel Hervé-Aubert. The research group’s consortium is renowned and internationally recognised.
