Cell-targeted Biophotonic Nanoparticles for Vision Restoration

NanoFlash aims to develop disruptive nano-enabled technology to restore damaged neuronal networks through precise stimulation of specific retinal cells. Focusing on non-genetic reactivation of physiological vision, NanoFlash targets treatment of retinitis pigments (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), both marked by severe retinal degradation and loss of high-resolution vision. Current retinal prostheses suffer from low resolution and indiscriminate activation of inner retina, while ontogenetic strategies targeting ON-bipolar cells (BCs) face significant limitation in efficacy and translational readiness.Circumventing these challenges, NanoFlash will engineer photovoltaic polymer nanoparticles (NPs) functionalist to target mGluR6 receptors, a unigue hallmark on PN-BCs. Using state-of-the-art modelling and bioelectronic in vitro platforms, the project will drive the rational design and optimisation of NPs, tailoring their size, architecture, spectral sensitivity, and transduction efficiency. Advanced organ-on-chip devices will be developed to screen and validate NP targeting and retinal reactivation performance in retinal organdies and explants. Lead NP candidates will then be tested in rod-cone degeneration rodent models, assessing targeting precision, suspension stability, and visual restoration outcomes. NanoFlash represents a major leap forward in retinal prosthetics by restoring the ON/OFF pathway segregation critical for spatial resolution, contrast sensitivity, and motion detection. This highly interdisciplinary effort will push the frontiers of bio-organic optoelectronics and neurophysiology, providing essential preclinical data toward therapies for currently incurable retinal diseases, addressing a pressing unmet medical need in the EU.