Research

Thesis title: "Molecular Design in Ligand-based Targeted Delivery Vehicles"

Thesis outline: Dendritic cells are attractive targets to develop vaccines. Among the C-type lectins that expressed on the surface of dendritic cells, Langerin is one of the target that worth studying because of its high expression on splenic cDC1s, Langerin+ dermal DCs, and Langerhans cells. To target Langerin, a small molecule mediated platform for the delivery of exogenous antigens to DCs essentially consists of a targeting ligand, which is attached to nanoparticles that are able to encapsulate high antigen loads. This thesis aims at designing, screening and optimising of those ligands. Synthetic chemistry and biochemistry would be applied to identify suitable ligands that have high affinity and at the same time easy to conjugate. Delivery study would be carried out to explore the kinetics and uptake mechanism.

Funding: China Scholarship Council (CSC)

Supervisor & Co-Mentor: Christoph Rademacher & Raffaele Senatore

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