Queen Mary researchers develop nanogel-based targeted drugs

This is the goal of a Queen Mary University, London research project looking at the concept of cross-linked nanogel materials that disassemble and decompose in a sequence when triggered by a stimulus such as a specific enzyme in the body or change in pH level or temperature.

Principal investigator Marina Resmini said that nanoparticles have been developed for delivering drugs in the past but the particles developed have always come with drawbacks.

‘There is a wider issue of the toxicity of nanoparticles and so my goal was to develop a polymeric system which is able to break down into its original component once it’s in the body,’ she said. ‘The advantage of this is the drug would be released but you wouldn’t have the issue with the toxicity because they would essentially be decomposed.’

The project has received £173,862 through an EPSRC program dubbed Bright IDEAS, which is funding a total of £2m for several research programmes aimed at ‘crossing boundaries’ between chemistry and other disciplines.