Bacteria-targeting nanoparticles for managing infections

Thesis (Ph. D. in Chemical and Biomedical Engineering)--Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references.Bacterial infections continue to be a significant concern particularly in healthcare settings and in the developing world. Current challenges include the increasing spread of drug resistant (DR) organisms, the side effects of antibiotic therapy, the negative consequences of clearing the commensal bacterial flora, and difficulties in developing prophylactic vaccines. This thesis was an investigation of the potential of a class of polymeric nanoparticles (NP) to contribute to the management of bacterial infections. More specifically, steps were taken towards using these NPs (1) to achieve greater spatiotemporal control over drug therapy by more targeted antibiotic delivery to bacteria, and (2) to develop a prophylactic vaccine formulation against the common bacterial sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by Chlamydia trachomatis. In the first part, we synthesized polymeric NPs containing poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)- block-poly(L-histidine)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) (PLGA-PLH-PEG). We show that these NPs are able to bind to bacteria under model acidic infection conditions and are able to encapsulate and deliver vancomycin to inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria in vitro. Further work showed that the PLGA-PLH-PEG-based NPs demonstrated the potential for competition for binding bacteria at a site of infection from soluble protein and model phagocytic and tissue-resident cells in a NP composition dependent manner. The NPs demonstrated low toxicity in vitro, were well tolerated by mice in vivo, and circulated in the blood on timescales comparable to control PLGA-PEG NPs. In the second part, we used PLGA-PLH-PEG-based NPs to design a prophylactic vaccine against the obligate intracellular bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, the most common cause of bacterial STD in the world. Currently, no vaccines against this pathogen are approved for use in humans. We first formulated NPs encapsulating the TLR7 agonist R848 conjugated to poly(lactic acid) (R848-PLA) in PLGA-PLH-PEG-based NPs, then incubated these R848-NPs with UV-inactivated C. trachomatis bacteria in acidity, forming a construct. Mice immunized with this vaccine via genital or intranasal routes demonstrated protection from genital infection post immunization in a primarily CD4⁺ T cell-dependent manner. These results may suggest avenues for future work in designing and developing more targeted drug therapies or vaccine formulations for managing bacterial infections using polymeric nanoparticles.by Aleksandar Filip Radovic-Moreno.Ph.D.in Chemical and Biomedical Engineerin

Surface Charge-Switching Polymeric Nanoparticles for Bacterial Cell Wall-Targeted Delivery of Antibiotics

Bacteria have shown a remarkable ability to overcome drug therapy if there is a failure to achieve sustained bactericidal concentration or if there is a reduction in activity in situ. The latter can be caused by localized acidity, a phenomenon that can occur as a result of the combined actions of bacterial metabolism and the host immune response. Nanoparticles (NP) have shown promise in treating bacterial infections, but a significant challenge has been to develop antibacterial NPs that may be suitable for systemic administration. Herein we develop drug-encapsulated, pH-responsive, surface charge-switching poly(d,l-lactic-co-glycolic acid)-b-poly(l-histidine)-b-poly(ethylene glycol) (PLGA-PLH-PEG) nanoparticles for treating bacterial infections. These NP drug carriers are designed to shield nontarget interactions at pH 7.4 but bind avidly to bacteria in acidity, delivering drugs and mitigating in part the loss of drug activity with declining pH. The mechanism involves pH-sensitive NP surface charge switching, which is achieved by selective protonation of the imidazole groups of PLH at low pH. NP binding studies demonstrate pH-sensitive NP binding to bacteria with a 3.5 ± 0.2- to 5.8 ± 0.1-fold increase in binding to bacteria at pH 6.0 compared to 7.4. Further, PLGA-PLH-PEG-encapsulated vancomycin demonstrates reduced loss of efficacy at low pH, with an increase in minimum inhibitory concentration of 1.3-fold as compared to 2.0-fold and 2.3-fold for free and PLGA-PEG-encapsulated vancomycin, respectively. The PLGA-PLH-PEG NPs described herein are a first step toward developing systemically administered drug carriers that can target and potentially treat Gram-positive, Gram-negative, or polymicrobial infections associated with acidity.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant CA151884)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant EB003647)Prostate Cancer Foundation (Award in Nanotherapeutics)United States. Dept. of Defense (Prostate Cancer Research Program PC 051156)MIT-Portugal ProgramNational Science Foundation (U.S.). Graduate Research FellowshipNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Office of the Director Grant DP2OD008435

Phonon-assisted radiofrequency absorption by gold nanoparticles resulting in hyperthermia

It is suggested that in gold nanoparticles (GNPs) of about 5 nm sizes used in the radiofrequency (RF) hyperthermia, an absorption of the RF photon by the Fermi electron occurs with involvement of the longitudinal acoustic vibrational mode (LAVM), the dominating one in the distribution of vibrational density of states (VDOS). This physical mechanism helps to explain two observed phenomena: the size dependence of the heating rate (HR) in GNPs and reduced heat production in aggregated GNPs. The argumentation proceeds within the one-electron approximation, taking into account the discretenesses of energies and momenta of both electrons and LAVMs. The heating of GNPs is thought to consist of two consecutive processes: first, the Fermi electron absorbs simultaneously the RF photon and the LAVM available in the GNP; hereafter the excited electron gets relaxed within the GNP's boundary, exciting a LAVM with the energy higher than that of the previously absorbed LAVM. GNPs containing the Ta and/or Fe impurities are proposed for the RF hyperthermia as promising heaters with enhanced HRs, and GNPs with rare-earth impurity atoms are also brought into consideration. It is shown why the maximum HR values should be expected in GNPs with about 5-7 nm size.Comment: proceedings at the NATO Advanced Research workshop FANEM-2015 (Minsk, May 25-27, 2015). To be published in the final form in: "Fundamental and Applied NanoElectroMagnetics" (Springer Science + Business Media B.V.

HER-2-Targeted Nanoparticle-Affibody Bioconjugates for Cancer Therapy

Affibodies are a class of polypeptide ligands that are potential candidates for cell- or tissue-specific targeting of drug-encapsulated controlled release polymeric nanoparticles (NPs). Here we report the development of drug delivery vehicles comprised of polymeric NPs that are surface modified with Affibody ligands that bind to the extracellular domain of the trans-membrane human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) for targeted delivery to cells which over express the HER-2 antigen. NPs lacking the anti-HER-2 Affibody did not show significant uptake by these cells. Using paclitaxel encapsulated NP-Affibody (1 wt% drug loading), we demonstrated increased cytotoxicity of these bioconjugates in SK-BR-3 and SKOV-3 cell lines. These targeted, drug encapsulated NPAffibody bioconjugates may be efficacious in treating HER-2 expressing carcinoma

ChemoRad nanoparticles: a novel multifunctional nanoparticle platform for targeted delivery of concurrent chemoradiation

Aim: The development of chemoradiation – the concurrent administration of chemotherapy and radiotherapy – has led to significant improvements in local tumor control and survival. However, it is limited by its high toxicity. In this study, we report the development of a novel NP (nanoparticle) therapeutic, ChemoRad NP, which can deliver biologically targeted chemoradiation. Method: A biodegradable and biocompatible lipid–polymer hybrid NP that is capable of delivering both chemotherapy and radiotherapy was formulated. Results: Using docetaxel, indium111 and yttrium90 as model drugs, we demonstrated that the ChemoRad NP can encapsulate chemotherapeutics (up to 9% of NP weight) and radiotherapeutics (100 mCi of radioisotope per gram of NP) efficiently and deliver both effectively. Using prostate cancer as a disease model, we demonstrated the targeted delivery of ChemoRad NPs and the higher therapeutic efficacy of ChemoRad NPs. Conclusion: We believe that the ChemoRad NP represents a new class of therapeutics that holds great potential to improve cancer treatment

Properties and performance of mesoporous activated carbons from scrap tyres, bituminous wastes and coal

Tyre wastes and their blends with coal and a bituminous waste material obtained from the benzol distillation column of a by-product section of a coking plant were employed as a precursor for the production of activated carbons (ACs). Pyrolysis up to 850 °C followed by physical activation with CO2 produced mesoporous carbons with different pore size distributions and surface areas. The surface chemistry of the samples was studied by measuring the point of zero charge (pHpzc) and by temperature programmed desorption (TPD). The activated carbons obtained contained higher amounts of basic functional groups. Their textural and surface chemistry characteristics make them highly suitable for adsorbing anionic dyes of large molecular size, such as Congo red. The adsorption kinetics was found to conform closely to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. To determine the adsorption mechanism, the kinetic data were also analyzed using the Weber and Morris intraparticle diffusion model and the Boyd model to distinguish between the pore and film diffusion steps. The equilibrium isotherms were of the Langmuir isotherm type. The efficiency of the low-cost ACs prepared for the removal of Congo red dye was similar to that reported in the literature for coal-based ACs and greater than that of other low-cost ACs

A mucosal vaccine against Chlamydia trachomatis generates two waves of protective memory T cells

Genital Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) infection induces protective immunity that depends on interferon-γ producing CD4 T-cells. By contrast, mucosal exposure to ultraviolet light (UV)-inactivated Ct (UV-Ct) generated regulatory T-cells that exacerbated subsequent Ct infection. We show that mucosal immunization with UV-Ct complexed with charge-switching synthetic adjuvant particles (cSAP) elicited long-lived protection in conventional and humanized mice. UV-Ct-cSAP targeted immunogenic uterine CD11b+CD103− dendritic cells (DCs), whereas UV-Ct accumulated in tolerogenic CD11b−CD103+ DCs. Regardless of vaccination route, UV-Ct-cSAP induced systemic memory T-cells, but only mucosal vaccination induced effector T-cells that rapidly seeded uterine mucosa with resident memory T-cells (TRM). Optimal Ct clearance required both TRM seeding and subsequent infection-induced recruitment of circulating memory T-cells. Thus, UV-Ct-cSAP vaccination generated two synergistic memory T-cell subsets with distinct migratory properties

Adjuvant-carrying synthetic vaccine particles augment the immune response to encapsulated antigen and exhibit strong local immune activation without inducing systemic cytokine release

Augmentation of immunogenicity can be achieved by particulate delivery of an antigen and by its co-administration with an adjuvant. However, many adjuvants initiate strong systemic inflammatory reactions in vivo, leading to potential adverse events and safety concerns. We have developed a synthetic vaccine particle (SVP) technology that enables co-encapsulation of antigen with potent adjuvants. We demonstrate that co-delivery of an antigen with a TLR7/8 or TLR9 agonist in synthetic polymer nanoparticles results in a strong augmentation of humoral and cellular immune responses with minimal systemic production of inflammatory cytokines. In contrast, antigen encapsulated into nanoparticles and admixed with free TLR7/8 agonist leads to lower immunogenicity and rapid induction of high levels of inflammatory cytokines in the serum (e.g., TNF-α and IL-6 levels are 50- to 200-fold higher upon injection of free resiquimod (R848) than of nanoparticle-encapsulated R848). Conversely, local immune stimulation as evidenced by cellular infiltration of draining lymph nodes and by intranodal cytokine production was more pronounced and persisted longer when SVP-encapsulated TLR agonists were used. The strong local immune activation achieved using a modular self-assembling nanoparticle platform markedly enhanced immunogenicity and was equally effective whether antigen and adjuvant were co-encapsulated in a single nanoparticle formulation or co-delivered in two separate nanoparticles. Moreover, particle encapsulation enabled the utilization of CpG oligonucleotides with the natural phosphodiester backbone, which are otherwise rapidly hydrolyzed by nucleases in vivo. The use of SVP may enable clinical use of potent TLR agonists as vaccine adjuvants for indications where cellular immunity or robust humoral responses are required