image: Professor Lutz Nuhn receives a two-million-euro research grant from the European Research Council.
Credit: Chris Weiss
The Consolidator Grants of the European Research Council (ERC) are endowed with two million euros. They are awarded to scientists whose previous work is so outstanding that further top achievements can be expected. Professor Lutz Nuhn, Head of the Chair of Macromolecular Chemistry at the Institute of Functional Materials and Biofabrication at Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, now belongs to this group.
Lutz Nuhn is an expert in nanoparticles that function like taxis. He designs the particles in such a way that they pick up medical agents as passengers and transport them to their specific location in the body. After completing their task, the particles should degrade completely on their own.
The professor intends to use the funding from the ERC to develop innovative nanoparticles for the further improvement of RNA drugs. These include, in particular, RNA vaccines, which were used on a global scale for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic. They enable the rapid production of vaccines when new pathogens emerge and allow the vaccines to be quickly adapted to new variants of the pathogens if needed.
Previous Encapsulation of Vaccines has Disadvantages
‘However, RNA vaccines need capsules that protect them from degradation in the body and enable their uptake into the antigen-presenting cells of the immune system,’ says Lutz Nuhn.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, established lipid-based nanoparticles were used for encapsulation. However, these capsules are not particularly stable and must be consistently cooled. This hinders their distribution in places where there is insufficient cold storage. ‘Some vaccinated people also experienced immunological side effects that are difficult to control and could possibly be linked to the lipid components of the capsules,’ explains the professor.
The Würzburg chemist aims to overcome these challenges in his ERC project. ‘I want to use a unique macromolecular approach to develop lipid-free capsules that are no longer dependent on constant cooling. In addition, the capsules should dissolve automatically after entering the immune cells and release the vaccine.’
But that's not all: Professor Nuhn plans to equip the RNA-loaded capsules with additional messenger substances. In this way, effective immune responses could be initiated precisely. The new type of encapsulation could therefore not only be used against infectious pathogens, but perhaps also in future vaccination strategies against cancer.
About Professor Lutz Nuhn
Professor Lutz Nuhn (39) moved from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Science in Mainz to the University of Würzburg in 2022. Here, together with Professor Jürgen Groll, he is playing a key role in establishing the ‘Centre of Polymers for Life’. The new building for this research centre is to be handed over to the researchers at the end of the year and opened in spring 2025. It is located on the Hubland Campus near the Chemistry Centre and is intended to further advance applications of polymer chemistry in the life sciences.
Lutz Nuhn's newly approved ERC project is entitled ‘Controlled Degradable Polymer Carriers for mRNA Vaccination: From Pathogens to Personalised Cancer Immunotherapy (PolymeRNA)’. It is expected to start when the Centre of Polymers for Life opens and will run for five years.