Summary
The brain is a complex network of inter-connected neurons that communicate through synapses. SYNAPS aims to for the first time mimic such synapses using liposomes as artificial cells, and visible light to trigger a signal from a ‘sender’- to a ‘receiver’-liposome. Mimicking such communication processes will help with understanding how complex natural emergent properties arise, and could ultimately allow for the construction of a chemical computer. SYNAPS will excel beyond the state-of-the-art by maintaining chemical isolation between liposome interiors, ensuring local, time-bound communication between connected liposomes, and using light as an external stimulus and fuel. These concepts are essential to construct artificial tissues that can communicate on an individual liposome-to-liposome basis, in contrast to the state-of-the-art where communication generally occurs with the bulk solution. To achieve this, a messenger compound will be locally photosynthesised through transmembrane electron transfer by porphyrin dimers that portray a charge-transfer excited state. The liposomes will be organised into a synaptic cleft through the use of synthetic complementary clustering compounds that provide stable adhesion between sender and receiver liposomes. The messenger compound will be recognised by reversible and selective membrane-spanning receptors in the receiver liposome, that will output the signal through fluorescence. In addition, a reaction cascade network will be constructed involving the messenger to produce an artificial action potential, that is, a transient peak in the concentration of the messenger, ensuring a time-bound dissipative signal. Altogether, SYNAPS will provide advances in systems chemistry by providing a nanoscale platform for communication between chemically isolated systems, but also results that are useful for applications such as light-to-chemical energy conversion, chemical sensing and smart drug-delivery.
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More information & hyperlinks
| Web resources: | https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101076014 |
| Start date: | 01-06-2023 |
| End date: | 30-09-2028 |
| Total budget - Public funding: | 1 688 047,00 Euro - 1 688 047,00 Euro |
Cordis data
Original description
The brain is a complex network of inter-connected neurons that communicate through synapses. SYNAPS aims to for the first time mimic such synapses using liposomes as artificial cells, and visible light to trigger a signal from a ‘sender’- to a ‘receiver’-liposome. Mimicking such communication processes will help with understanding how complex natural emergent properties arise, and could ultimately allow for the construction of a chemical computer. SYNAPS will excel beyond the state-of-the-art by maintaining chemical isolation between liposome interiors, ensuring local, time-bound communication between connected liposomes, and using light as an external stimulus and fuel. These concepts are essential to construct artificial tissues that can communicate on an individual liposome-to-liposome basis, in contrast to the state-of-the-art where communication generally occurs with the bulk solution. To achieve this, a messenger compound will be locally photosynthesised through transmembrane electron transfer by porphyrin dimers that portray a charge-transfer excited state. The liposomes will be organised into a synaptic cleft through the use of synthetic complementary clustering compounds that provide stable adhesion between sender and receiver liposomes. The messenger compound will be recognised by reversible and selective membrane-spanning receptors in the receiver liposome, that will output the signal through fluorescence. In addition, a reaction cascade network will be constructed involving the messenger to produce an artificial action potential, that is, a transient peak in the concentration of the messenger, ensuring a time-bound dissipative signal. Altogether, SYNAPS will provide advances in systems chemistry by providing a nanoscale platform for communication between chemically isolated systems, but also results that are useful for applications such as light-to-chemical energy conversion, chemical sensing and smart drug-delivery.Status
SIGNEDCall topic
ERC-2022-STGUpdate Date
09-02-2023
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