Targeted Delivery to the Heart Endothelium

Abstract

Targeted delivery of nanoparticles to the heart endothelium with large pay-load potential, applicable to drug/gene delivery.

Full Description

Ligand-targeted liposomes are increasingly being recognized as an effective strategy to deliver drugs to specific organs; however, few studies have quantified endothelial binding of targeted liposomes. Researchers at the University of California, Davis have discovered that embedding high concentrations of short, linear, arginine-terminated peptides into nanoparticles allows for concentrated binding of the particles selectively to heart endothelium and the vascular endothelium in the heart.

Applications

• Targeted drug delivery vehicles
  
• Contrast agents for imaging

Features/Benefits

• No other methods exist currently to deliver drugs or genes specifically to the heart endothelium

Related Materials

• Zhang H, Kusunose J, Kheirolomoom A, Seo JW, Qi J, Watson KD, Lindfors HA, Ruoslahti E, Sutcliffe JL, and Ferrara KW. 2008. Dynamic imaging of arginine-rich heart-targeted vehicles in a mouse model. Biomaterials. 29(12):1976-88. Epub 2008 Feb 6.

Patent Status