Inflammation is a common response to many underlying medical conditions, often hiding deep within the body and difficult to reach in a targeted way. Being able to deliver pharmaceutical cargo to inflamed sites can allow for imaging and treatment of the underlying conditions that cause inflammation in the first place. Researchers from University of California, Santa Barbara and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a new technology that harnesses the body’s immune system to deliver drugs and imaging agents to inflamed tissue.
The technique relies on inflammatory monocyte migration (monocytes are a type of white blood cells that hone in on inflammation), to carry tiny polymer particles dubbed “Cellular Backpacks” to their targets. The particles are attached to the monocytes with the help of an antibody that binds to their surface. These backpacks are too large for the monocytes to swallow whole, so instead they carry the load and perform their normal functions. As the monocytes seek out inflammation, they bring their loads with them, able to penetrate endothelial monolayers and differentiate into macrophages as they would normally.
The researchers tested the technology on laboratory animals, finding that the backpack carrying monocytes gathered in significantly larger numbers around sites of inflammation than in the rest of the animal bodies.
Study in Journal of Controlled Release: Monocyte-mediated delivery of polymeric backpacks to inflamed tissues: a generalized strategy to deliver drugs to treat inflammation…
UC Santa Barbara: Special Delivery…