PhD defence by Chenyang Wu

pH-sensitive liquid crystalline nano-self-assemblies for colorectal cancer therapy

Assessment Committee:
Associate professor Mingshi Yang, Department of Pharmacy, University of Copenhagen (Chairperson)
Associate professor Ken Howard, Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center, Århus university, DK
Professor Lars Nilsson, Department of Process and Life Science Engineering, Lund University, Sweden

Supervisors:
Professor Anan Yaghmur

Department:
Department of Pharmacy

Graduate Programme:
Pharmaceutical Sciences

Place:
Building 12, Room: Benzon Auditorium, Universitetsparken 2, 2100 Copenhagen Ø

Email address to gain access to the thesis: chenyang.wu@sund.ku.dk 
You will either receive a copy of the thesis or be informed where you can read a physical copy.

Short description of the thesis:
This PhD project focused on pH-responsive lipid liquid crystalline nanoparticles as injectable nanoplatforms for cancer therapy. The work examined how diolein positional isomerism, fatty acid headgroup chemistry, pH, and PEGylation influence nanoparticle structure, morphology, size, and biological performance. The first study developed stabilizer-free 2-hydroxyoleic acid/diolein nanocarriers, highlighting the role of lipid molecular architecture in self-assembly. The second replaced 2-hydroxyoleic acid with oleic acid, showing how headgroup chemistry, diolein positional isomerism, and pH govern internal nanostructures. The third developed into methotrexate-loaded PEGylated micellar cubosomes with pH-sensitive structural behavior, hemocompatibility, cellular uptake, and improved antitumor efficacy. Overall, the project provides design principles for structurally tunable injectable cancer nanomedicines.