*********************************
There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
*********************************
Summary Sentence: "Design of Peptide- and Aptamer-Amphiphiles for Receptor-Targeted Therapeutics" - Efrosini Kokkoli, PhD - University of Minnesota
Full Summary: Bioengineering Seminar Series - "Design of Peptide- and Aptamer-Amphiphiles for Receptor-Targeted Therapeutics" - Efrosini Kokkoli, PhD - University of Minnesota
Efrosini Kokkoli, PhD - University of Minnesota"Design of Peptide-and Aptamer-Amphiphiles for Receptor-Targeted Therapeutics"
Efrosini Kokkoli, PhD - University of Minnesota
Drug delivery systems that include site-specific surface ligands could further enhance selective targeting. In this talk I will discuss the design and evaluation of two different ligands. The first one is a fibronectin mimetic peptide-amphiphile, PR_b, that specifically targets the alpha(5)beta(1) integrin which is over-expressed in a variety of cancer cells and on tumor vasculature, and plays an important role in angiogenesis and metastasis. PR_b functionalized nanoparticles have been evaluated in vitro and in vivo and have shown enhanced binding, intracellular uptake, and delivery of their encapsulated load compared to non-targeted and GRGDSP-functionalized particles targeted to different cancers, as well as the capability to deliver a wide variety of therapeutic cargoes. The second example is our recent effort to design a ligand for fractalkine. Fractalkine is a chemokine that acts as an adhesion molecule for leukocytes and more important is only expressed at sites of inflammation, such as cancer. We have recently identified an aptamer, FKN-S2, that binds fractalkine with high affinity and specificity. Our results demonstrate the effect of the hydrophobic tail of the aptamer-amphiphile on its self-assembly and binding characteristics.
Host: Valeria Milam, PhD
The Bioengineering Seminar Series is a joint seminar series between IBB and the BME department. Seminars are held on Tuesdays or Thursdays between 11am-12pm in IBB room 1128 unless otherwise indicated.
