René Stein

Master student

Synthesis and Characterization of Gold-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for sepsis treatment

Betreuer: Bernhard Friedrich, Prof. Christoph Alexiou, Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Since the discovery of penicillin in 1928 antibiotics are used over-extensively not only in human medicine, but also in agriculture and as precaution measures in livestock farming. Thus, bacteria that developed resistances to multiple antibiotics over time will be a fundamental challenge modern medicine has to face in the future. For treatments that especially rely on antibiotic therapies new alternative approaches will be necessary to ensure a successful recovery of the patient.

One major problem is the treatment of sepsis, a systemic immune response mostly against an uncontrolled bacterial infection. The aim of this work is to synthesize functionalized Gold-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs). The synthesized particles will be characterized and the synthesis will be refined to achieve antibody binding on the particle surface for a potential sepsis therapy.

This thesis is realized in cooperation with the research group of Prof. Dr. med. Christoph Alexiou from the Section for Experimental Oncology and Nanomedicine (SEON) at the Universitätsklinikum Erlangen.