Electronic medicines could soon be a reality thanks to new research that led to the creation of signals to capture and release biomolecules that could help tackle the growing issue of expensive medication.
The polymer surface, seen as brushes in the image, reacts to an electrical pulse by changing the state from capturing to releasing the green biomolecules. The polymer surface first captures the biomolecules (left), and when the electricity is switched on, releases them (right). Image credit: Gustav Ferrand-Drake del Castillo / Chalmers University of Technology
A team of scientists at Chalmers University of Technology claims to have created a polymer surface that can both capture and release molecules through an electric charge, claiming this new and efficient method of delivery could pave the way for the future of biomedicines, including new forms of medicine and drug implants.
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This surface could have several key applications in medicine, including the separation of medicines from other biomolecules - a chemical compound found in living organisms - created by human cells that could drive costs down.
Biomedicines, the team claims, are currently incredibly expensive as there is no cheap or efficient way to separate medicines from these biomolecules. This technique could allow for higher drug yield, which can reduce overall costs, giving the medicine more widespread use.
Typical separation techniques such as chromatography, which requires strong chemicals to bind molecules to the surface often have smaller yields, which is the result of the shortages of these medicines. Many others are also incredibly sensitive to the chemicals used, which can also have an effect.
The results of its experiments were published in the Angewandte Chemie journal.
Gustav Ferrand-Drake del Castillo, Doctor in Chemistry and CEO of Nyctea Technologies. Credit: Chalmers University of Technology
"Our polymer surfaces offer a new way of separating proteins by using electrical signals to control how they are bound to and released from a surface, while not affecting the structure of the protein", said Gustav Ferrand-Drake del Castillo, the lead author of the study.
The polymer can also act as a balancer, containing fluids that can prevent a change in pH. If this can be replicated, it could allow for other types of medicines or implants and electronic pills that could be placed into the body and activated by an electronic signal.
“You can imagine a doctor, or a computer program, measuring the need for a new dose of medicine in a patient, and a remote-controlled signal activating the release of the drug from the implant located in the very tissue or organ where it’s needed", del Castillo continued.
"Being able to control the release and uptake of proteins in the body with minimal surgical interventions and without needle injections is, we believe, a unique and useful property. The development of electronic implants is only one of several conceivable applications that are many years into the future. Research that helps us to link electronics with biology at a molecular level is an important piece of the puzzle in such a direction.
"Electronics in biological environments are often limited by the size of the battery and the moving mechanical parts. Activation at a molecular level reduces both the energy requirement and the need for moving parts", he added.
The process of activating these medicines requires very little energy. The polymer's thin layer means it responds to weak signals when activating the medicine.
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Localised and activated medicines exist today for procedures such as administering drugs to the GI tract, but in most cases, the pH cannot be altered. This usually means more specific medicines have to be used in each procedure.
There also exist methods of targeting which allow for surgeons or doctors to specifically target a small area of the body for treatment.
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