Investigating Laser-Activation of Structured Polymer Materials for Drug Delivery

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

The PI recently discovered that laser-activation of certain polymers performs effective cargo delivery. As polymers are biocompatible, cheap, and easily integrated, the work in this project plans to leverage this recent (unexpected, and as-of-yet not understood) discovery to fabricate and characterize laser-activated polymers, with the aim of better equipping the biomedical field with novel in vivo cargo-delivery methods that harness laser-activated materials. While advancing discovery, the work will also contribute to the education and the training of future multidisciplinary scientists and engineers through research-based education of undergraduate and graduate students. Through the Mazur Group's work with local high schools, NSF sponsored programs, and the high representation of women in his research group, they will broaden participation of underrepresented groups. Finally, using the group's well-established program integrating outreach and public education with research, this work will be broadly disseminated to the general public. This project is for investigating the newly discovered phenomenon of laser-activation of polymers with an eye toward developing light-activated polymer materials that are flexible in structure, patterned, biodegradable, and easy to implant into the body, unlike traditional metallic nanofabricated substrates, for the delivery of payloads into cells. The goals of this project are to: 1) study the fundamental physics of the light-matter interactions of these polymer materials and cells; and 2) develop and apply these light-activated polymer materials for biomedical engineering applications. Developing new approaches for cell therapy and regenerative medicine, as well as studying modified gene expression, requires efficient and safe introduction of genetic vectors into mammalian cells. There is a biomedical need for gene delivery modalities that are efficient and non-toxic and that and can treat a large number of cells in a short amount of time. Being able to have a highly efficient cargo delivery method while maintaining cell viability and medically relevant treatment throughput would revolutionize nanomedicine and open the door to new cell therapies and regenerative medicine. In summary, this project focuses on studying the fundamental physics of light-matter interaction of various structures composed of polymer and bioplastic materials and properties in a liquid environment. The motivation is to create a flexible and biocompatible platform for transfection in implantable materials. It is important to characterize material properties to determine how biocompatible and viable these materials may be for different sensitive cell types. Developing a strong design and understanding of a new biomaterial will open avenues to trigger delivery in a non-invasive manner using light-activation within a patient. Due to the ease of fabrication and scalability of structured polymer surfaces to be used in this project, there is great potential to maximize throughput for clinical applications. This proposed research could be truly transformative to the field of cargo delivery and provide an enormous opportunity for active implants. Beyond demonstrating cargo delivery with laser-activated structured polymer and bioplastic materials and their use in biomedical applications, the work will also explore several fundamental topics as follows: (1) identifying what effects govern successful light-polymer interaction for cell poration; (2) characterizing the pressure wave perturbation and bubble formation, when excited with different types of laser (pulsed and continuous wave) on structured polymer materials through experimental measurements; (3) establishing guidelines for designing a wide variety of structured polymer and bioplastic materials; and (4) identifying properties that dictate favorable cell attachment to these structured materials. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.