Tag Archives: Agency for ScienceTechnology and Research

Fungal infections, begone!

A May 7, 2014 news item on Nanowerk highlights some antifungal research at A*STAR (Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research),

Pathogenic fungi like Candida albicans can cause oral, skin, nail and genital infections. While exposure to pathogenic fungi is generally not life-threatening, it can be deadly to immunocompromised patients with AIDS or cancer. A variety of antifungal medications, such as triazoles and polyenes, are currently used for treating fungal infections. The range of these antifungal medications, however, is extremely limited, with some fungal species developing resistance to these drugs.

Yi Yan Yang at the A*STAR Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore and co-workers, in collaboration with IBM Almaden Research Center in the United States, have discovered four cationic terephthalamide-bisurea compounds with strong antifungal activity, excellent microbial selectivity and low host toxicity …

A May 7, 2018 A*STAR news release, which originated the news item, describes the research in detail (Note: A link has been removed),

Conformational analysis revealed that the terephthalamide-bisurea compounds have a Z-shaped structure: the terephthalamide sits in the middle, urea groups on both sides of the terephthalamide, and cationic charges at both ends. The researchers prepared compounds with different spacers — ethyl, butyl, hexyl or benzyl amine — in-between the urea group and the cationic charge.

When dissolved in water, the terephthalamide-bisurea compounds aggregate to form fibers with lengths ranging from a few hundred nanometers to several micrometers. Some of the compounds form fibers with high flexibility and others with high rigidity.

The researchers evaluated the antifungal activity of their terephthalamide-bisurea compounds against C. albicans. They found that all of the cationic compounds effectively inhibited fungal growth, even when the fungal concentration increased from 102 to 105 colony-forming units per milliliter.

The researchers believe that the potent antifungal activity is largely due to the formation of fibers with extremely small diameters in the order of 5 to 10 nanometers, which facilitates the rupture of fungal membranes. “This is particularly important because the fungal membrane of C. albicans is multilayered and has low negative charges,” explains Yang. “It also helps explain why cationic terephthalamide-bisurea compounds could easily penetrate the fungal membrane.”

The terephthalamide-bisurea compounds also eradicated clinically isolated drug-resistant C. albicans. The compounds prevent the development of drug resistance by rupturing the fungal membrane of C. albicans and disrupting the biofilm (see image).

Additionally, cytotoxicity tests showed that the cationic terephthalamide-bisurea compounds exhibit low toxicity toward mammalian cells and in a mouse model, revealing that the compounds “are relatively safe for preventing and treating fungal infections,” says Yang. [emphasis mine]

It’s nice to see that this potential anti-fungal treatment isn’t damaging to one’s cells.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Supramolecular high-aspect ratio assemblies with strong antifungal activity by Kazuki Fukushima, Shaoqiong Liu, Hong Wu, Amanda C. Engler, Daniel J. Coady, Hareem Maune, Jed Pitera, Alshakim Nelson, Nikken Wiradharma, Shrinivas Venkataraman, Yuan Huang, Weimin Fan, Jackie Y. Ying, Yi Yan Yang, & James L. Hedrick. Nature Communications 4, Article number: 286 doi:10.1038/ncomms3861 Published 09 December 2013

This article is behind a paywall.

Nanoimprint Foundry in Singapore

Sept. 30, 2013 marks the date for the launch of Singapore’s Nanoimprint Foundry. From the Sept. 30, 2013 news item on Nanowerk,

A*STAR’s [Agency for Science, Technology and Research] Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) and its partners launched a new Nanoimprint Foundry that will develop, test-bed and prototype specially engineered plastics and surfaces for the specific purpose of commercialising the technologies. Possible applications of nanoimprint technology include dry adhesives, aesthetic packaging, contact lenses, biomedical cell scaffolds, anti-frost surfaces and anti-bacteria materials.

The multi-party investment will bring together national research organisations, suppliers and manufacturers spanning the nanotechnology value chain, and government agencies to promote the technology. The Foundry is part of a masterplan spearheaded by A*STAR to push translational research and accelerate commercialisation of home-grown technologies. In partnership with other A*STAR research institutes, IMRE will work with companies like Toshiba Machines Co Ltd, EV Group, NTT Advanced Technology Corporation, NIL Technology ApS, Kyodo International Inc., micro resist technology GmbH, Nanoveu Pte Ltd and Solves Innovative Technology Pte Ltd to produce prototypes for real-world products and applications. The Foundry and its partners will also work closely with Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB) and SPRING to promote its nanoimprint applications to industry as part of the plans to build up Singapore’s high-value manufacturing capabilities.

The Sept. 30, 2013 A*STAR press release, which originated the news item, itemizes the various news points of interest,

3.     “We can help companies develop up to 20,000 samples for proof-of-concept and pilot production allowing manufacturers to shorten the product cycle but minus the heavy capital R&D investment”, said Dr Karen Chong, the IMRE scientist who is heading the Foundry. Dr Chong added that the Foundry will be a one-stop shop for companies seeking to conceive, design and develop solutions for new, revolutionary products based on the versatile nanoimprint technology.

4.     “The Foundry gives us the tools for creating real products that target industry end users and ultimately consumers”, explained Mr Masayuki Yagi, Director & General Manager, Advanced Machinery Business Unit, Toshiba Machines Co Ltd, Japan on why the company chose to participate in the initiative. “Toshiba Machines and the Foundry will aim to deliver innovative engineering solutions based on nanoimprint and be the best partner for leading industries”.

5.     According to Mr Koh Teng Kwee, Director of Solves Innovative Technology Pte Ltd, “Working with IMRE since IICON 1[1] am sure IMRE’s nanoimprint technology and know-how is now ready for industrial adoption.  In my opinion, IMRE is able to provide everything needed for a new product realisation involving nanoimprinting.”

6.     “There is a billion-dollar, virtually untapped market for new advanced nanotechnology products that can make use of what the Foundry has to offer”, said Prof Andy Hor, Executive Director for IMRE, adding that the initiative will hasten the industrialisation of nanoimprinting in this lucrative market segment. In consumer care for example, the global market for contact lenses – where nanoimprint technology can be used to produce new functionalities like multi-coloured lenses – is expected to grow to USD 11.7 billion by 2015[2].

7.     “The Foundry is the first one-stop shop to pull different value chain partners together to offer solutions based on nanoimprint through equipment, moulds, materials and applications to end user companies”, said Dr Tan Geok Leng, Executive Director of A*STAR’s Science and Engineering Research Council which oversees a number of the research institutes dedicated to the physical sciences and engineering. “The new Foundry is part of Singapore’s strategy to create a new, advanced high-value manufacturing sector to support its growing knowledge-based economy.”

8.     “As part of EDB’s vision to position Singapore as an Advanced Manufacturing Hub, we will continue to work with companies to co-create and adopt advanced manufacturing technologies. We see this new Research Foundry as one of the key infrastructures to strengthen nanoscale-manufacturing capabilities in Singapore”, said Mr Yi-Hsen Gian, Director (i3), Economic Development Board (EDB), Singapore.

[1]Source: Industrial Consortium On Nanoimprint, Project 1 on anti-reflection surfaces

[2] Source: Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Good luck with the foundry and this attempt to set up a manufacturing process!