Boronate Ester-Based Strategies for Controlled Therapeutic Protein Release

The proposed project is focused on developing an improved therapeutic protein for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). More than 10% of the world population (primarily those over the age of 50) are impacted by OA, an inflammatory joint disease that affects all the joint tissues due to cartilage loss and to date lacks curative treatment.
We propose to develop a new strategy for the controlled intra-articular release of a protein that has demonstrated promising activity, and prolonged OA treatment. This protein works by stimulating chondrocytes, specialized cells that are responsible for forming, cartilage.
We hypothesize that engineered protein tethered to a hydrogel, a polymeric network in water, to enable sustained release of bioactive protein over 2 weeks. Our objectives to address this research question include:

1) Determine the yield and bioactivity of human natural and engineered protein.
2) Establish a potency for protein variants containing functional groups to immobilize and release it from hydrogels with reversible chemistry.

The Globalink Research Award will be used to facilitate collaborations between Dalhousie University and Nantes University with exchange of knowledge related to hydrogel formulation, protein expression and controlled release. Achieving these objectives will enable future research to focus on achieving potent protein-based therapeutics against OA.

Faculty Supervisor:

Alexander Baker

Student:

Partner:

Nantes Université

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Biotechnology; Health and Related Sciences and Technology; Pharmaceuticals

University:

Dalhousie University

Program: