Team:TU Darmstadt
ChiTUcare
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ChiTUcare
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ChiTUcare
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1. Chitosan:
Chitosan is a derivate of the linear polysaccharide chitin.
The chemical and physical properties can vary remarkably.
This enables a huge scope of applications. Chitosan shows
antimicrobial properties and supports scar free wound healing.
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2. Wound infection:
Simple and cheap wound treatment is a challenging task.
The detection of potentially present pathogenic bacteria is
complicated, as removal of the wound dressing disrupts the
healing process.
3. Chitin Synthase:
To realize the synthesis of chitosan, for usage in wound
dressing hydrogels, we produce chitin out of N-acetyl-
glucosamine-UDP monomers. Chitin is a precursor for chitosan.
We implement the chitin synthase NodC, which creates
tetrameric and pentameric chitin.
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4. Chitin Deacetylase:
To manufacture chitosan out of chitin, the produced
chitin oligomers have to be deacetylated. This can be
performed by using certain hydrolyzing enzymes
called chitin deacetylases. In our case,
we use NodB and COD.
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5. Chemistry:
To deal with the problem of wound infections and
their detection, our synthesized chitosan is linked
to a flourophor via a peptide linker. This makes it
possible to detect exoproteases from pathogenic
bacteria within minutes.
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6. Hydrogel:
To use the wound healing supportive properties of chitosan,
we manufactured non-toxic, low-cost hydrogels, containing
defined chitosans for usage in wound care.
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9. CloneCademy:
In order to share the knowledge about
synthetic biology and the achievements
of our project, we developed a web-based
interactive learning platform called
CloneCademy. This education tool makes
it possible for other iGEM teams to share
their ideas with society.
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7. Solution:
By combining the physiological properties
of chitosan and the novel detection
system for wound infections in a hydrogel
bandaid, we realized next generation
wound care. Furthermore, we successfully
proved all milestones of our project.
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8. Tech:
We constructed a smartphone-
adaptable, low-cost and mainly 3D
printed microscope with a µm resolution
by implementing the digital inline
holographic approach. Thus, allowing the analyzation of our
hydrogel structure during the project. We also present
a software solution enabling 3D analyzation based on
the open source HoloPy package.
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> Proof of Concept <
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