Five weeks of nanoparticle treatment reduced artery damage by up to 80% in mice

Very promising core-shell nanoparticle platform employs a hydrophobic interior comprising PLGA, a block copolymer of lactic and glycolic acids—both natural metabolic products—and diagnostic and therapeutic cargo molecules. Some PLGA molecules are linked to a fluorescent dye to track the disposition of the nanoparticles in animals. Encapsulated with the PLGA are molecules of a 25-amino acid peptide that acts to resolve inflammation through binding to important cell surface receptors. Some PLGA molecules are attached at one end to the hydrophilic polyethylene glycol (PEG), which forms the outer shell of the nanoparticle. Attachment of a peptide to the other end of PEG targets the nanoparticle to a collagen protein found in the vascular basement membrane that becomes exposed with vascular injury and inflammation.

(H/T Foresight Institute nanodot)

Nanoparticles seek out and repair sections of artery damage could signal the future of treatments for heart disease and strokes. Successful tests of the nanodrones have been carried out in mice – and researchers hope to conduct the first human trials soon. They are designed to latch on to atherosclerotic plaques – hard deposits made from accumulated fat, cholesterol and calcium that build up on the walls of arteries and are prone to rupture, producing dangerous clots.

Once they have attached, they release a drug derived from a natural protein which can repair damage in the body.

In the mice, scientists found that just five weeks of treatment resulted in significant repairs to artery damage while the plaques were shrunk and stabilised, making it less likely for fragments to break off and cause clots.

Nanoparticles for treating Atherosclerosis Credit: Harvard Medical School

Keeping Atherosclerosis in-check with Novel Targeted Inflammation-Resolving Nanomedicines [Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical School]

Science Translational Medicine - Targeted nanoparticles containing the proresolving peptide Ac2-26 protect against advanced atherosclerosis in hypercholesterolemic mice

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