Our project is aimed at obtaining a new multifunctional therapeutic system able to protect and increase the wound healing regeneration. The idea is to prepare an innovative nanogel possessing hyperthermic and transfecting properties due to the presence of iron oxide nanoparticles, polyamidoamine dendrimers (PAMAM) and miRNAs.

AIM 1: to develop and to characterize novel multifunctional nanogels containing iron nanoparticles to protect the wound, PAMAM and miRNAs for the delivery in vitro (i.e. fibroblast and immune cells) and in vivo (mouse animal models) for hypertermic/photothermal therapy applications.

AIM 2: to assess: 1) the nanotoxicity and genotoxicity of these systems in vitro and in vivo, 2) the best transfection and photothermal conditions, 3) the expression of heat shock proteins, and 4) the optimal concentration and irradiation conditions for in vivo delivery/treatment.

AIM 3: to optimize the formulation of a non-toxic multifunctional nanogel for further pre-clinical studies.