Two basic requirements that new materials should satisfy to be efficient nanomedicines are (1) resistance against enzymatic digestion or immune reactions to ensure sufficient blood circulation and (2) efficient adhesion to biological surfaces such as tough tumor cellular membranes. These are common limitations of conventional systems; for example, PEGylated liposomes have shown loss of their long circulation and subsequent clearance from the blood with repeated injection. It is the so-called “accelerated blood clearance” phenomenon that occurs due to the immune process. Even though the liposomes successfully travel to a targeted organ such as the liver, the drug delivery efficiency to tumor cells is significantly low. Chiral engineering to achieve D-amino acid-mediated control over physiological reactions of nanomedicine will overcome these limitations. It is known that incorporating D-amino acids to alter protein conformation through racemization has protective effects against enzymatic digestion while maintaining the functionality of the protein. It is expected that control over physiological properties of systems using chiral engineering will be effective not only with proteins but also with nanomedicines.

Based on that, PLUS Lab develops “chiral nano-paint” that can coat nanostructures to improve efficiency of nanomedicine. This project pioneers the importance of chirality suggesting a new level of control of biomaterials.