Artificial Cell Technologies, Inc. (ACT) designs, engineers and fabricates coatings, capsules, and “Artificial Cells” from polymers called polypeptides by a method called layer-by-layer self-assembly (LBL).

ACT's key innovation is the combination of designed polypeptides and the LBL methodology for specific product applications. Peptide design affords a vast range of specific functional properties with an environmentally benign material. LBL is a simple, established, and reliable method for the engineering and manufacture of coatings, capsules, and Artificial Cells. Control over polypeptide structure and nanofilm architecture leads to control over biological response at the cellular or system level. The technology can be used to “tune” properties such as immunogenicity, interactions with specific cell types, and pathway and rate of clearance.

Designed Polypeptides ACT designs polypeptides by mimicking naturally-occurring peptides in the human body or in other organisms or by harnessing proprietary design criteria for control of specific physical or chemical properties to meet the material requirements of a particular product. This may be thought of as “spelling” polypeptide “words” with an “alphabet” of amino acid “letters” to yield a specific functional “meaning.”

Multilayer Nanofilms  Engineered polypeptides are assembled into multilayer nanofilms using LBL. Polypeptides designed to be positively charged or negatively charged are deposited into a film one layer at a time. Adjacent layers adhere to each other by electrical charge interactions. When the film is formed on a flat surface, the result is a coating; when the film is formed on a spherical surface, the result is a capsule, non-immunogenic Artificial Cell, or Artificial Virus.

“Tunable” Properties  The nanofilm fabrication process enables a high level of control over film and capsule properties such as thickness (at the nanometer scale), porosity, permeability, density, surface charge, roughness, and suitability for integration with pharmacological agents. Peptide design and film architecture determine the effects of the films or capsules on biological cells.

Competitive Advantages  Extensive control over the biological functionality of nanofilms, capsules, Artificial Cells, and Artificial Viruses is not possible with any other kind of polymer. Moreover, nanofilm functionality does not depend on material from an animal or bacterial source. This reduces the complexity of fabrication and the risk of product contamination. ACT’s structures are stable under a variety of harsh conditions such as a strongly acidic environment, important for stability in the gut; when freeze dried, they can be stored at room temperature for years.