University of Manchester (UNIMAN)

The Nanomedicine Laboratory is part of the Centre for Regenerative Medicine, Institute of Inflammation and Repair, Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences, University of Manchester.

University of Manchester is the largest single site University in the UK and is ranked 5th in the UK and 49th in the world. Nanomedicine Lab, as part of the Centre for Regenerative Medicine in the Institute of Inflammation and Repair contributes to the Institute research in developing new multi-disciplinary approaches to tissue repair and regeneration, by bridging the gap between fundamental nanomaterials engineering and biomedical applications towards the clinical realisation of advanced therapeutic modalities.

It is one the first and premier research centres in Europe dedicated to nanomedicine and drug delivery. The research of the team has a long history in developing liposomes, colloidal nanoparticulates (polymeric microspheres, solid nanoparticles), natural and synthetic macromolecules (e.g. dendrimers) and novel nanomaterials (e.g. nanocarbons) as delivery systems of therapeutic and diagnostic agents.

These include a variety of therapeutic biological molecules (peptides, proteins, plasmid DNA) as well as other more conventional drug molecules for anti-angiogenic therapies, and other therapeutic modalities against cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

Prof. Kostarelos is the Chair of Nanomedicine & Nanomedicine Lab. He is the Founding and Senior Editor of the journal Nanomedicine (ISI® 2010 Impact Factor: 6.2) and sits on the Editorial Board of various journals. He has been invited Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine (FRSM), Fellow of the Institute of Nanotechnology (FIoN) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). In 2010 he was awarded the competitive Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Professorial Fellowship. In 2006 he was nominee of the Descartes Prize for Excellence in Scientific Research, European Commission.

Professor Kostarelos and the Nanomedicine Lab have been awarded the following European projects: NINIVE (Partner); ANTICARB (Coordinator); SONODRUGS (Partner); NANONEUROHOP (Coordinator); NANORESISTENCE (Partner); RADDEL (Partner).

The Nanomedicine Lab has in-house comprehensive facilities that include: cell culture, gene expression in vitro and in vivo models, SEM, Optical microscope, cryo-TEM, Confocal laser scanning microscopy, NMR (500 MHz), Mass spectrometry (electrospray, LC-ESI-MS), Circular dichroism, Fluorescence (steady state and stopped-flow), Calorimetry (DSC and ITC), Biosensing (resonant mirror), nanoparticle characterisation (photon correlation spectrophotometry and ZetaSizer), HPLC, FPLC, tissue-culture hoods, Incubators, Centrifuges, Sonicators, Flow Cytometry, animal facility, IVIS fluorescence and bioluminescence imaging, SPECT/CT and PET/CT, Gamma counting, Liquid Scintillation Counting.

Main tasks of UNIMAN: Chemical functionalisation and characterization of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT).

Previous experience relevant to the tasks

The strength of the Nanomedicine Lab experience in nanofabrication of novel materials and more relevant to this project the pioneering work with chemically functionalised carbon nanotubes with the aim to improve their toxicological profile and biological efficacy for therapeutic and diagnostic applications:

1. H. Nagai, et al. Diameter and rigidity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes are critical factors in mesothelial injury and carcinogenesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 2011, 108(49):1330-8.
2. K.T.Al-Jamal, et al. Functional motor recovery from brain ischemic insult by carbon nanotube-mediated siRNA silencing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 2011, 108(27):10952-7.
3. K.Kostarelos. Fibrillar pharmacology. Nature Materials 2010, 9(10):793-795.
4. S.Y.Hong et al. Filled and glycosylated carbon nanotubes for in vivo radioemitter localization and imaging. Nature Materials 2010, 9(6):485-490.
5. K.Kostarelos, A.Bianco, M.Prato. Promises, facts and challenges for carbon nanotubes in imaging and therapeutics. Nature Nanotechnology 2009, 4(10):627-633.
6. K.Kostarelos, A.Bianco, M.Prato. Hype around nanotubes creates unrealistic hopes. Nature 2008, 453(7193):280.
7. K.Kostarelos. The long and short of carbon nanotube toxicity. Nature Biotechnology 2008, 26(7):774-776.

Staff-members involved in the project:

• Prof. Kostas Kostarelos (Chair of Nanomedicine and Head of Nanomedicine Lab)
• Dr Cyrill Bussy (Lecturer in Nanosafety)
• Dr Zahraa Al-Ahmady (Research Fellow, chemical engineering of nanoparticles).

Key Personnel

Professor Kostas Kostarelos
Chair of Nanomedicine

Nanomedicine Lab | School of Medicine | National Graphene Institute
Faculty of Medical & Human Sciences | Rm.2.015 | AV Hill Building | The University of Manchester
Manchester M13 9PT | United Kingdom

tel: ++44-207-753 5956 (london)
++44-161-306 5765 (manchester)
e-mail: kostas.kostarelos