Bhussry Seminar Series: “Bioelectricity for Drug Delivery and Imaging”
Presentation: “Bioelectricity for Drug Delivery and Imaging”
Speaker:
Ambika Bajpayee, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Bioengineering
Northeastern University
Presented via Zoom only.
About This Seminar:
Negatively charged tissues such as cartilage, meniscus, intervertebral disc, eye, and mucosal membrane, that also tend to be dense and avascular, are ubiquitous in the human body but remain outstanding challenges for targeted drug delivery and diagnostic imaging. Their degeneration is associated with several common diseases which remain untreatable due to a lack of delivery systems that can enable drugs to penetrate the negatively charged matrix and reach their cellular targets. The high negative fixed charge density, however, can be converted from being a challenge to an opportunity by engineering therapeutics at the molecular level to add optimally positively charged domains such that electrostatic interactions enhance their transport, uptake and retention rather than hindering them. We have developed such electrically charged biomaterials using proteins, peptides and cell derived exosomes which will be discussed in the context of targeted drug delivery to cartilage, intervertebral disc, and mucosal membrane for treatment of trauma and aging induced osteoarthritis, lower back pain and mucosal inflammation. Additionally, the talk will cover the use of these concepts for diagnostic imaging via supercharged probes that can penetrate the otherwise impenetrable negatively charged, avascular tissues. Technology translation using animal models is underway which will also be discussed.
Sponsored by the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology