Search Results - vincent+rotello

This invention provides a novel therapeutic platform to combat multidrug-resistant bacterial and biofilm infections using engineered polymeric nanoparticles. The polymeric nanoparticles can penetrate and eradicate pre-formed bacterial biofilms while maintaining high therapeutic indices. The nanoparticles are formed via self-assembly of engineered synthetic polymers in aqueous solutions, without the need to use any organic solvent or purification procedures.

This invention provides a simple method for making protein films or coatings for antifouling, antimicrobial, and tissue engineering applications. The films are water-stable, biocompatible and resistant to protein and bacterial fouling. The films can be fabricated on substrates with simple or complex geometries. The biodegradability of the films can be tuned to enable controlled release of functional or therapeutic agents.

Bacterial biofilms are widely associated with persistent infections. The amphiphilic construct of biofilms provides protection for bacterial cells by reducing absorption of conventional antimicrobials. This invention provides new nanoparticle-stabilized antimicrobial microcapsules that can effectively inhibit and eradicate pathogenic biofilms. The microcapsules contain antimicrobial essential oil materials and can efficiently deliver such materials to the cells of pathogenic bacteria in the biofilm, resulting in effective killing of the bacteria.

Bacterial biofilms are widely associated with persistent infections. The amphiphilic construct of biofilms provides protection for bacterial cells by reducing absorption of conventional antimicrobials. This invention provides new antimicrobial nanocapsules that can effectively inhibit and eradiate pathogenic biofilms. The nanocapsules contain an antimicrobial essential oil and can efficiently deliver the essential oil to the cells of pathogenic bacteria in the biofilm, resulting in effective killing of the bacteria.

This invention provides a general and efficient protein delivery platform that enables intracellular delivery of proteins having different physiochemical properties. The delivery system involves the use of surface functionalized nanoparticles to form self-assembled superstructures with the protein to be delivered. The nanoparticle-protein assemblies effectively escape endosomal entrapment and rapidly deliver the protein into the cell cytosol or the targeting organelle. This protein delivery system has been successfully demonstrated for the efficient delivery of the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system as well as a number of other proteins with different physiochemical properties.

This invention provides protein films or coatings for antifouling, antimicrobial and tissue engineering applications, and scalable, environment-friendly methods for fabricating the films. The films are water-stable, biocompatible and resistant to protein and bacterial fouling, and can be made to direct human cell adhesion, alignment and growth. The films can be fabricated on both hard and flexible substrates, and the fabrication process does not involve the use of environmentally hazardous materials such as organic solvents or chemical crossslinkers. The biodegradability of the films can be tuned to enable controlled release of functional or therapeutic agents.

This invention provides a general and efficient protein delivery platform that enables intracellular delivery of proteins having different physiochemical properties. The delivery system involves the use of surface functionalized nanoparticles to form self-assembled superstructures with the protein to be delivered. The nanoparticle-protein assemblies effectively escape endosomal entrapment and rapidly deliver the protein into the cell cytosol or the targeting organelle. This protein delivery system has been successfully demonstrated for the efficient delivery of the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system as well as a number of other proteins with different physiochemical properties.

This technology provides novel, engineered surfaces containing functionalized nanoparticle adhesive elements whose surface arrangements are optimized for highly selective adhesion, sensing and separation of biological or nonbiological analyte particles in a broad range of sizes, from submicron to tens of microns. The nanoparticle- textured surfaces are designed to exploit repulsive interactions between analyte particles and the main portion of the surface, in addition to attractions between the adhesive elements and the target particles. The competitive attractive and repulsive interactions produce tunable selective dynamic adhesion for analyte particles, discriminating targets on the basis of size, local curvature (roughness), net charge density, and arrangement of surface functional groups.