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Prof. Dr.Matthias Barz of the Leiden University, The Netherlands, visited our institute.
On July 8th (Monday), Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Matthias Barz, the Head of the BioTherapeutics Division and Professor for Biopharmacy from Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research (LACDR), Leiden University, The Netherlands, visited our institute, Innovation Center of NanoMedicine (iCONM), Kawasaki, Japan. Prof. Barz is one of the rising stars of polymer-based nanomedicines. Prof. Barz and his team developed polypept(o)ides – a hybrid material based on polypeptides and polypeptoids, e.g., polysarcosine. He authored more than 100 scientific publications, receiving 6350 citations with an h-index of 44 (Google Scholar).
Prof. Barz was offered an iCONM tour along with the iCONM collaboration space with BioLabs, the global premium incubator at KING SkyFront in Kawasaki City. Later, the center director of iCONM, Prof. Dr. Kazunori Kataoka, and researchers of iCONM hosted a group lunch with Prof. Barz at the Trex Kawasaki River Café in Tokyu Rei Hotel, The Ware House of KING SkyFront. After lunch, Prof. Barz delivered a thought-provoking oral presentation entitled “Polypept(o)ides in Cancer Therapy”. His talk covered the continuous flow manufacturing process of PeptoMicelles, integrating steps such as micelle formation, core cross-linking, functionalization, and purification into a unified process. Prof. Barz discussed how PeptoMicelle-loaded MDL drug, an adenosine cyclase inhibitor, restores antitumor immunity by releasing MDL in a tumor-specific manner, blocking adenylate cyclase, and suppressing cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) production. Prof. Barz also presented his research on iron oxide nanoparticle-loaded PeptoMicelles targeting tolerogenic macrophages. Additionally, Prof. Barz introduced polysarcosine-based lipid nanoparticles engineered for organ-specific mRNA delivery to the spleen and antibody-conjugated polysarcosine-based peptobrushes designed for cell-specific targeting of secondary lymphoid organs. Following his talk, several iCONM researchers also introduced their recent research achievements to Prof. Barz. Altogether, the scientific discussions between Prof. Barz and iCONM researchers facilitated scientific networking and knowledge exchange.
