{"71045":{"#nid":"71045","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Biodegradable Polymers May Improve Treatment of Inflammatory Diseases","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA family of biodegradable polymers called polyketals and their derivatives may improve treatment for such inflammatory illnesses as acute lung injury, acute liver failure and inflammatory bowel disease by delivering drugs, proteins and snips of ribonucleic acid to disease locations in the body.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The polyketal microparticles we developed are simply a vehicle to get the drugs inside the body to the diseased area as quickly as possible,\u0022 said Niren Murthy, assistant professor in the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. \u0022The major advantage to using these polyketals to deliver drugs is that they degrade into biocompatible compounds that don\u0027t accumulate in a patient\u0027s tissue or cause additional inflammation.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDetails about the polyketals and clinical applications were described during three presentations on August 18-20 at the 236th American Chemical Society National Meeting in Philadelphia. This research - initially started in 2003 - is funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a presentation on August 19, graduate student Scott Wilson detailed a new polyketal derivative aimed at enhancing the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease - an illness that causes the large and small intestines to swell. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new polymer has the advantage of stability in both acids and bases. It degrades only in the presence of reactive oxygen species, which are present in and around inflamed tissue. Cell culture experiments have demonstrated that the microparticles degraded more rapidly in cells that overproduced superoxide, a reactive oxygen species.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers are currently collaborating with Didier Merlin, a professor in the Division of Digestive Diseases at Emory University, to investigate loading these polyketals with therapeutics to treat inflammatory bowel disease. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We think these microparticles are going to be fantastic for oral drug delivery because they can survive the stomach conditions before they release their contents in the intestines,\u0022 noted Murthy. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMurthy\u0027s group is also examining the use of polyketals to treat acute liver failure - a condition in which the liver stops functioning because macrophages in the liver create reactive oxygen species. One treatment is the delivery of superoxide dismutase, an enzyme that detoxifies superoxide. Incorporating the enzyme inside a polyketal - poly(cyclohexane-1,4-diyl acetone dimethylene ketal) - allows the enzyme to be released very quickly in an acidic environment. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Patients with acute liver failure need drugs as soon as possible or else they\u0027ll die,\u0022 said Murthy. \u0022We\u0027ve tailored the polyketal\u0027s hydrolysis rates to deliver the drug in one or two days.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENick Crisp, professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Rochester Medical Center, and Robert Pierce, currently head of anatomic pathology at Schering-Plough Biopharma and formerly of the University of Rochester Medical Center, are collaborating on this project. Georgia Tech, Emory and the University of Rochester have filed three patent applications on the polyketal drug delivery system.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo treat other illnesses, it may be necessary to deliver proteins to a diseased organ. In a presentation on August 18, Georgia Tech researchers described such a method, which was developed by Murthy, Michael Davis, an assistant professor in the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, and graduate student Jay Sy.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Delivering proteins inside microparticles has been limited because getting the protein into the microparticles required organic solvents that frequently destroyed the proteins,\u0022 explained Murthy. \u0022To overcome this problem, we developed a method of simply immobilizing the protein on the surface of the microparticles.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers incorporated a nitrilotriacetic acid-lipid conjugate into the polyketal. In a one-step procedure, they mixed the microparticles with the proteins and centrifuged them. That immobilized the proteins on the surface of the polyketals. Laboratory experiments conducted under physiological conditions have shown that half of the bound proteins were released within 24 hours.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAlso in collaboration with Davis, the researchers are testing the ability of the protein-bound polyketals to treat heart attacks.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the next few years, Murthy and his team of graduate students and collaborators plan to continue developing new polyketals and conducting efficacy tests in cell cultures and animal studies.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In the past few years, we have developed methods to tailor the polyketal\u0027s properties, which have already allowed us to target many different medical conditions, but our end goal is to test these treatments in humans,\u0022 noted Murthy.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E Niren Murthy (404-385-5145); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:niren.murthy@bme.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eniren.murthy@bme.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Polyketal microparticles show promise as drug delivery vehicle"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Biodegradable polymers called polyketals and their derivatives may improve treatment for such inflammatory illnesses as acute liver failure and inflammatory bowel disease by delivering drugs, proteins and enzymes to disease locations in the body.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Polyketal particles may improve treatment of inflammatory diseas"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2008-08-19 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-08-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-08-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71046":{"id":"71046","type":"image","title":"Niren Murthy","body":null,"created":"1449177338","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:38","changed":"1475894628","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:48"},"71047":{"id":"71047","type":"image","title":"SEM polyketal microparticles","body":null,"created":"1449177338","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:38","changed":"1475894628","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:48"},"71048":{"id":"71048","type":"image","title":"Polyketal laboratory experiment","body":null,"created":"1449177338","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:38","changed":"1475894628","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:48"}},"media_ids":["71046","71047","71048"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/","title":"Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/facultystaff\/faculty_record.php?id=95","title":"Michael Davis"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/facultystaff\/faculty_record.php?id=58","title":"Niren Murthy"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7242","name":"acute"},{"id":"7250","name":"attack"},{"id":"7241","name":"biodegradable"},{"id":"7246","name":"bowel"},{"id":"5221","name":"cardiac"},{"id":"5302","name":"Disease"},{"id":"7245","name":"failure"},{"id":"2583","name":"heart"},{"id":"7249","name":"infarct"},{"id":"7243","name":"inflammatory"},{"id":"7248","name":"intestine"},{"id":"7244","name":"liver"},{"id":"7108","name":"lung"},{"id":"7247","name":"microparticle"},{"id":"1657","name":"oxygen"},{"id":"7240","name":"polyketal"},{"id":"1492","name":"Polymer"},{"id":"1656","name":"reactive"},{"id":"170856","name":"species"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}