{"id":27762,"date":"2015-09-16T17:18:49","date_gmt":"2015-09-16T21:18:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sciencebusiness.technewslit.com\/?p=27762"},"modified":"2016-06-11T12:24:07","modified_gmt":"2016-06-11T16:24:07","slug":"platelet-like-nanoparticles-boost-therapeutic-effects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/technewslit.com\/sciencebusiness\/?p=27762","title":{"rendered":"Platelet-Like Nanoparticles Boost Therapeutic Effects"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Red<\/a>
Red blood cells held together with platelets, in blue, and fibrin, in yellow. (NIH.gov)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

16 September 2015. Engineers and medical researchers at University of California in San Diego designed biocompatible nanoparticles\u00a0disguised as\u00a0blood platelets, which they found increased the particles’ targeting and medicinal\u00a0effects. The team led by engineering\u00a0faculty\u00a0Liangfang Zhang<\/a> and\u00a0Shu Chien<\/a> published its proof-of-concept study today in the journal Nature<\/a><\/em> (paid subscription required).<\/p>\n

The UC-San Diego researchers are seeking to improve drug delivery of compounds needed in specific parts of the body, but otherwise require\u00a0large and potentially dangerous doses for individuals taking the drugs if given as general systemic medications. To improve drug targeting, nanoscale particles, where 1 nanometer equals 1 billionth of a meter, are considered a promising method for drug delivery, since they can accumulate\u00a0at disease sites with\u00a0their drug payloads. Designers of nanoscale drug delivery systems, however, have been held back\u00a0by the need for nanoparticles to be accepted by the body, and not trigger an immune reaction.<\/p>\n

Zhang, Chien and colleagues devised their nanoparticles with a core of biocompatible polymer that the body can metabolize, infused with drug compounds. The team coated the particles with the membranes that\u00a0surround blood platelets. The researchers\u00a0separated the platelets from whole blood, then isolated the surface membranes \u00a0from the platelets. The membranes were then broken up and fused to the particles, each about 100 nanometers across.<\/p>\n

The use of platelet membranes is an extension\u00a0of earlier research<\/a> by Zhang’s lab showing nanoscale sponges coated with red blood cell membranes could absorb and remove toxins such as\u00a0bacteria,\u00a0snake venom, and bee stings from the blood stream. Platelet membranes make\u00a0it possible for nanoparticles to express their whole range of proteins and receptors, and thus interact like platelets in blood.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0the new study, the researchers tested their platelet-like nanoparticles with lab mice and rats. In one test, the team infused the particles with\u00a0docetaxel, a chemotherapy drug, but also with the ability to\u00a0prevent scar tissue<\/a> from forming in the lining of blood vessels. The\u00a0docetaxel-laden particles were given to rats with damaged\u00a0arteries, and the team found the particles accumulated at the damage sites and\u00a0repaired the arteries.<\/p>\n

In a second test, particles were loaded with the antibiotic\u00a0vancomycin<\/a> and given to mice infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus<\/em> or MRSA bacteria, the cause of dangerous and difficult to treat infections often found\u00a0in hospitals. Although the dosage given the mice receiving the nanopartile treatments was\u00a0one-sixth the normal scaled-down dose, mice receiving nanoparticles had bacterial counts one-thousandth that of mice given normal treatments\u00a0of\u00a0vancomycin.<\/p>\n

The researchers believe that because of their improved targeting, the platelet-like nanoparticles\u00a0offer\u00a0an opportunity to lower dosages, while still\u00a0boosting effectiveness of drugs other than antibiotics “While this proof of principle study demonstrates specific delivery of therapeutic agents to treat cardiovascular disease and bacterial infections,” says Chien in a university statement<\/a>, “it also has broad implications for targeted therapy for other diseases such as cancer and neurological disorders.”<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n