Stage M2/3A : Biomatériaux hybrides pour le traitement du cancer de la prostate par thérapie combinée (Copie)
| Host Team | PHBM Team – Polymers for Health and Biomaterials, IBMM
https://ibmm.umontpellier.fr/en/polymers-for-health-and-biomaterials/ Pôle Chimie Balard Recherche 1919 route de mende 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5 |
| Internship Supervisors
Contact |
Benjamin Nottelet / Hélène Van Den Berghe
+33(0)4-48-79-20-39 / +33(0)4-48-79-20-41 |
| Keywords
|
Polyesters, polysaccharides, nanoparticles, hydrogels, drug formulation. |
| Skills Acquired by the Student by the End of the Internship | Copolymer synthesis, nanoparticle and hydrogel formulation, encapsulation and release of therapeutic agents. |
Project Description
There has recently been growing interest in nanoparticle–hydrogel hybrids and their applications in drug delivery. Hydrogels are generally used to protect nanoparticles and modulate their release, while nanoparticles are used as carriers for therapeutic agents.
Despite the expected therapeutic benefits of combination therapies, little research has focused on the development of hybrid drug delivery systems (HDDS) based on amphiphilic copolymers with inverse and complementary structures, designed to ensure stable and homogeneous dispersion of nanoparticles within the hydrogel network and enhanced retention of the NPs within the gel.
Another important area of development is to ensure that these HDDS are compatible with subcutaneous injection, allowing therapeutic agents to be released from the hydrogel into the systemic circulation while avoiding the gastrointestinal tract.
This approach has been validated within our group as part of a PhD project focusing on breast cancer. This work demonstrated the relevance of degradable hybrid systems containing therapeutic antibodies delivered by the hydrogel, while chemotherapeutic agents were loaded into the NPs (Figure 1).
As part of the present project, we aim to extend this approach to the treatment of prostate cancer, in collaboration with the Montpellier Cancer Research Institute (IRCM).
Figure 1: Schematic representation of the combined hybrid drug delivery systems (HDDS) targeted in the project.
Internship Tasks
During the internship, your work will involve:
- synthesizing polyester–polysaccharide copolymers as precursors for NPs and/or hydrogels;
- modifying the NPs to target prostate cancer cells;
- characterizing and formulating these NPs;
- combining them with hydrogels to form the HDDS;
- formulating two therapeutic agents with complementary and synergistic mechanisms of action within two distinct NP populations.
To carry out this work, you will draw on knowledge of synthetic chemistry, physical chemistry, and the characterization of drug delivery systems.
This internship will provide an opportunity to acquire or strengthen knowledge and skills in macromolecular chemistry (ROP, click chemistry), the formulation of nano-objects and hydrogels, their chemical and physicochemical characterization (DLS, rheology), and pharmaceutical formulation (encapsulation efficiency, release studies).