E! 113643 OUI-PoC
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan - Skolan för kemi, bioteknologi och hälsa |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 1 742 304 |
| Project duration | April 2020 - August 2023 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | Eurostars |
Important results from the project
KTH contributed to the development of a novel method to enhance the barrier properties of mucus gels. This involved a new class of molecular assemblies capable of diffusing through mucus and altering its barrier characteristics. The goal was to make the treatment as effective as possible by ensuring the modification of the mucus would be possible in-depth and resist mucus turnover.
Expected long term effects
KTH successfully developed and tested nanoparticle systems composed of polymers that have been shown to successfully interact with cervical mucus and reinforce its barrier properties towards sperm. Although the particles were less than 200 nm, and successfully re-infoced the barrier properties of the mucus, these showed limited diffusion into the mucus. In addition, production issues curtailed further studies, leading to the exploration of alternative strategies.
Approach and implementation
The KTH partner was assigned to test a hypothesis on whether an innovative nanoparticle system would improve the performance of polymer crosslinker of cervical mucus. After having successfully designed, synthesized, and characterized such nanoparticles, we have demonstrated such an approach presents a number of limitations that do not make it favorable. Other approaches were thus selected by the partners.