Associate Professor  Ranjith K.  Kankala
College of Chemical Engineering, Huaqiao University,  China

Title: Spatiotemporally designed 2D Nanoarchitectures as Drug-like Therapeutics

Abstract:

Therapeutic: Despite their unique morphological and functional attributes, the recently emerged inorganic nanoarchitectures, i.e., two-dimensional (2D) MXenes and 2D metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), possess sole photothermal properties, endowing enormous scope for their superfluous abilities in biomedicine. The small-molecular drugs, concerning performance checks, are expensive and time-consuming, hampering their full potential. In a case, we fabricate Ti3C2-based 2D MXenes (TC-MX NSs) deposited with copper oxide (CO-MXs) to realize synergistic photothermal (PTT)-chemodynamic therapeutic (CDT) efficacies against breast carcinoma. Initially, monolayer/few-layered TC-MX NSs were prepared using the chemical etching-assisted ultrasonic exfoliation and deposited with Cu2O using in situ reduction. We successfully optimized and prepared TC-MX NSs (particle size 50~100 nm) and MX QDs (particle size~10 nm), showing no signs of toxicity to normal cells (BV-2 and L929). The photoacoustic imaging-guided photothermal ablation under NIR-II irradiation showed mild PTT effects of CO-MXs. In addition, Cu2O would facilitate light-assisted Cu+ release intracellularly for Fenton-like reaction-assisted CDT and increase PTT effects, inducing apoptosis of 4T1 cells in vitro and in vivo.

Tissue regeneration: Microscale cell carriers have recently garnered enormous interest in repairing tissue defects by avoiding substantial open surgeries using implants for tissue regeneration. The highly open porous microspheres (HOPMs) are fabricated using a microfluidic technique for harboring proliferating skeletal myoblasts and evaluating their feasibility toward cell delivery application in situ. These biocompatible HOPMs (particle size of 280–370 μm and pore size of 10–80 μm) conveniently provide a favorable microenvironment, arranging cells in elongated shapes with the deposited extracellular matrix, and facilitating cell adhesion and proliferation, as well as augmented myogenic differentiation. Furthermore, in vivo results in mice confirm improved cell retention and vascularization, as well as partial myoblast differentiation. Moreover, an inorganic-organic composite hydrogel system is designed to promote wound repair, expanding the application of manganese/MXene-based composites in bacterial infection wounds and providing a new strategy for in situ treatment of acellular matrix wounds. These scaffolds potentially allow for in situ tissue construction after minimally invasive delivery providing a convenient means for regeneration medicine.

Biography:

Ranjith K. Kankala is currently working as an Associate Professor at the Institute of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering at Huaqiao University, P. R. China. After receiving his PhD in nanomedicine in 2016, he joined the faculty immediately. Since 2022, he has been listed in the TOP-2% Highly Cited scientists’ category (career) by Scopus-Stanford list.