Leading PI: Aránzazu del Campo (INM)
The project aims to design hydrogels and nanofibrillar meshes to encapsulate bacteria for drug-eluting aerosols for the lungs and implants for the bile duct. It will focus on material selection and processing techniques to support the biofactories’ viability and functionality, using approved medical polymers. Techniques like microfluidic encapsulation and bioprinting will be established. The project will assess bacteria viability, drug production, and device stability, targeting core-shell devices for added functionalities. Upscaling to implantable prototypes will be attempted for preclinical animal experiments.
Related publications
Bhusari S, Hoffmann M, Herbeck-Engel P, Sankaran S, Wilhelm M, Del Campo A. Rheological behavior of Pluronic/Pluronic diacrylate hydrogels used for bacteria encapsulation in engineered living materials. Soft Matter. 2024 Feb 7;20(6):1320-1332. doi: 10.1039/d3sm01119d. PMID: 38241053.
Bhusari S, Sankaran S, Del Campo A. Regulating Bacterial Behavior within Hydrogels of Tunable Viscoelasticity. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2022 Jun;9(17):e2106026. doi: 10.1002/advs.202106026. Epub 2022 Apr 11. PMID: 35404519; PMCID: PMC9189655.
Bhusari S, Kim J, Polizzi K, Sankaran S, Del Campo A. Encapsulation of bacteria in bilayer Pluronic thin film hydrogels: A safe format for engineered living materials. Biomater Adv. 2023 Feb;145:213240. doi: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2022.213240. Epub 2022 Dec 20. PMID: 36577192
Kafrashian Z, Brück S, Rogin P, Khamdan M, Farrukh HSUB, Pearson S, Del Campo A. Segmented, Side-Emitting Hydrogel Optical Fibers for Multimaterial Extrusion Printing. Adv Mater. 2025 Jan;37(4):e2309166. doi: 10.1002/adma.202309166. Epub 2024 Dec 4. PMID: 39632473; PMCID: PMC11775871.
