Manufacture of complex protein polymers for industry and medicine

Modern biomedical science and clinical medicine rely increasingly upon the growth of cells outside of the body. In this way we can perform animal free experiments which are highly informative about a range of diseases including cancer, arthritis and dementia. We can also use these artificial cell cultures to make new drugs and there is a growing industry making such drugs as Herceptin for cancer and vaccines against hepatitis. Finally we now have the hope of stem cells to create a range of regenerative medicine cures for a range of conditions. In all these cases the cells are growing outside of the body and often require an external scaffolding of molecules to support their normal growth patterns. Currently these scaffolds are every expensive and of limited technical complexity. This project will create a cheap, pure and highly flexible source of polymeric proteins which can be built into a range of products to accelerate and stabilise the growth of cells in culture and assist all the technologies mentioned above.

Artificial cell culture is a widespread and rapidly expanding technology with applications in medicine, bioprocessing, crop science, drug development and clinical research. Currently, cells grow on surfaces that largely fall into two groups; low cost, bulk materials, exemplified by plastic ware, or high cost, low volume molecules such as proteins or peptide hydrogels. This project seeks to use a recent and patented discovery to create a novel industrial process that will overturn this product landscape by manufacturing engineered protein polymers with advanced functions at low cost. By bridging the gap between traditional polymer science and protein biochemistry we will create a range of matrices to assist the growth of cells for many downstream applications. The five-year project, supported by a broad industrial advisory board will develop a series of prototype materials and production processes and create the foundation for informed private sector investment or public-private partnerships.

As described in proposal submitted to TSB