Active Biohybrid Nanostructures For Biomedical Applications

Nanostructures, especially biohybrid nanostructures have long been imagined as promising carriers in (bio)medical applications such as drug and gene delivery. However, few nanomedical applications, apart from liposomes, have seen widespread adoption. All available biomedical nanosystems to date rely on passive diffusion for their dispersal and very few studies demonstrate chemical targeting. Nature, on the other hand, has evolved many ways of combining highly specific targeting and active microscale motion, e.g., chemotaxis, magnetotaxis, and phototaxis of bacteria and microorganisms. In order to realize synthetic nanostructures and systems that can rival natural ones, a number of challenges still lie ahead of us.

In this thesis, the author introduces examples of bioinspired and biohybrid nanostructures that address some of these challenges. Two material platforms are developed in this thesis, one based on M13 bacteriophages and one on FePt-based nanomotors. These systems can be viewed as very different but equally promising active biohybrid nanostructures. The introduced active biohybrid nanostructures are completely biocompatible and in the case of FePt nanodevices also enable precise actuated motion and targeting. The tools presented in this thesis are general and may help in the development of new biohybrid nanodevices for biomedical applications and therapies.