Programmable Nanomaterials

3D shapes created using programmable DNAs. Learn more...

Our tissues and organs form through a process of self-assembly in which nanoscale molecules come together with cells to form specialized structures and scaffolds that guide tissue and organ development. Materials in Nature are also typically multi-functional – they provide mechanical support, bind growth factors, and support cell adhesion – and they exhibit dynamic behavior that enables them to adjust their structure and functions in response to physical cues. This contrasts with man-made materials, which are often designed to exhibit only a single or narrow range of functions and which are not responsive to changes in their environment. The Programmable Nanomaterials Platform is interested in designing materials from the nano to the macro scales that mimic the multifunctionality and responsiveness of natural materials, particularly for regenerative medicine and drug delivery.

Platform scientists draw inspiration from the way molecules assemble themselves into viruses, organelles, living cells, and extracellular matrix scaffolds that hold cells together within whole tissues and organs. These insights guide faculty efforts to create more intelligent materials and devices that can be programmed to target disease sites in the body, form structures with desired shapes and functions, and be controlled remotely by light, magnetic forces, ultrasound, or electric fields. Opportunities include aerosol-based systems for drug delivery to the lungs, vaccines that regulate immune cell trafficking and activation, and injectable nanoparticles that target injury sites where they self-assemble into biomimetic scaffolds, attracting stem cells and inducing tissue regeneration.

Programming nanomaterial assembly using DNA origami

Today's biomaterials are produced in large manufacturing plants and implanted in the body. Because they are usually synthetic, they are often recognized as foreign by our bodies. DNA is both biocompatible and biodegradable, and hence provides an attractive alternative. Institute scientists are creating strands of DNA that are programmed to self assemble and to fold in on themselves to create larger three-dimensional structures, such as nanotubes and porous scaffolds, as if folding paper with origami. Some of these structures have shapes that resemble viruses, which might be useful to carry drugs deep into cells. Because every chemical side group in DNA can be controlled independently, this bioinspired material design approach offers a wide range of control of chemical specificity, as well as mechanical properties, that may proove invaluable for tissue engineering. More about DNA Origami...

Harnessing stem cells from within

Stem cells within an engineered muscle. Learn more...

Injected stem cells used today for organ regeneration often die or migrate uncontrollably from target sites. But the nanomaterials created by Wyss Institute faculty direct stem cells to differentiate only at sites of injury. From these sites, the scaffolds release molecular signals to guide stem cell growth and function for organ regeneration. By developing programmable materials that target injury sites when injected and recruit stem cells from within living tissues, Platform scientists offer the potential to harness the body's own power to heal, accelerating progress in regenerative medicine. Opportunities for remote actuation make these efforts even more exciting.

Initial target applications

• Materials that recruit circulating stem cells
  ·Induction of blood vessel growth for repair of ischemic tissues
  ·Immune cell reprogramming for cancer vaccines
  ·Mesenchymal stem cell recruitment for bone and muscle repair

• Biomimetic inductive materials
  ·Scaffolds that mimic embryonic induction
  ·Programmable DNAs that promote bone mineralization
  ·Mechanically active materials that control stem cell differentiation

• Remote actuation of biomaterials
  ·Transdermal light-induced release of tissue growth factors
  ·Magnetic actuation of cancer apoptosis

   

Implant Makes Cells Kill Cancer