Molecular toxicity of nanomaterials

Simon Poly has been developing his thesis project during four years at nanoGUNE, under de supervision of Felix Goñi, professor of the University of the Basque Country. His research work achieved the maximum qualification (cum laude) after the defense and assessment of his work by an international committee that included leading researchers in the field of nanobiology.

The thesis describes how the effect of nanomaterials on protein structure stability is due to the charge present at the surface of nanomaterials. Poly shows that different proteins will react differently with the same charge at the surface of nanomaterials. Interestingly, it is demonstrated that the effect of nanomaterials on protein structure was dependent not only on the charge present at the surface of nanomaterials but more importantly on the distribution of charge at the surface. On the basis of these data, the researchers were able to develop a new type of therapeutic agent based on controlled charge distribution at the surface of nanomaterials allowing specific interaction of nanomaterials and target protein without the need for coupled recognition molecules. This new agent is able to specifically interact with pathological proteins and aggregate them in a safe way in order to ease their removal from living organisms. Furthermore this discovery opens the way to a better understanding of nanomaterial toxicity and to new nanomaterial with increased in vivo stability for biomedical applications e.g. drug-delivery, biomedical implants, and tagging agents.

An international committee including leading researchers in the field was selected by the UPV/EHU to assess the research project:

• Jose Luis Pedraz Muñoz (UPV/EHU, Spain)
• Jesus Perez Gil (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain)
• Shlomo Margel (Bar-Ilan University, Israel)
• Iseult Lynch (UCD, Ireland)
• Jose Maria Pitarke De la Torre (UPV/EHU, Spain)

The defense consisted of a presentation by the candidate of the main aspects of the research project followed by a long discussion about the questions that each one of the members of the committee raised around the research works that have been carried out during the whole PhD period. After its final deliberation, the committee decided to award the candidate the Doctor Degree with the highest mention existing at the Spanish University apto cum laude.