Researchers develop new method to increase effectiveness of nanomedicines
https://phys.org/news/2022-01-method-ef ... cines.html
by Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Researchers at Penn Medicine have discovered a new, more effective method of preventing the body's own proteins from treating nanomedicines like foreign invaders, by covering the nanoparticles with a coating to suppress the immune response that dampens the therapy's effectiveness.
When injected into the bloodstream, unmodified nanoparticles are swarmed by elements of the immune system called complement proteins, triggering an inflammatory response and preventing the nanoparticles from reaching their therapeutic targets in the body. Researchers have devised some methods to reduce this problem, but the Penn Medicine team, whose findings are published in Advanced Materials, has invented what may be the best method yet: coating nanoparticles with natural suppressors of complement activation.
Nanoparticles are tiny capsules, typically engineered from proteins or fat-related molecules, that serve as delivery vehicles for certain types of treatment or vaccine—usually those containing RNA or DNA. The best-known examples of nanoparticle-delivered medicines are mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.
"It turned out to be one of those technologies that just works right away and better than anticipated," said study co-senior author Jacob Brenner, MD, Ph.D., an associate professor of Pulmonary Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care.