Research Field
Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
Title
Synthesis of drug-polymer conjugates for targeted tumor therapy
Description
Medium sized drugs like the potent microtubule inhibitor vincristine or
the intercalating anthracycline doxorubicin suffer from premature
clearance, suboptimum intracellular uptake and retention and
biodegradation. Additionally, undesired toxicity at non-cancerous sites
poses a problem for the treatment of various types of cancers. The
incorporation of drugs into polymeric carrier systems like nanoparticles
has been shown to overcome these limitations. Biodegradable polymer
therapeutics are a particular interesting class for the targeted delivery
of drugs to cancer cells. Hence, we aim to synthesize delivery platforms
for new classes of natural compounds of myxobacterial origin to
improve their suitability for the treatment of cancer.
The student will work with the following techniques: solid-phase
peptide synthesis (SPPS) for polymer synthesis, chromatographic
methods for purification purposes (SEC, HPLC), analytical chemistry
(MS, NMR, HPLC), cell work with an emphasis on toxicity studies (e.g.
MTT-assay).
Supervisor
Prof. Dr. Ernst Wagner
Research Mentor
Ines Trübenbach, PhD Student
Department
Ludwig Maximilians Universität München, Pharmacy Department
Website
http://www.cup.uni-muenchen.de/dept/ph/pharmabio/e_wagner.php