Bioactive Nanoparticles for Stem Cell Therapeutics
Tech ID: 21-048
Inventors: Donny Hanjaya-Putra, Loan Bui, Laura Haneline, Shanique Edwards
Date Added: May 19, 2021
Overview
Nanoparticles that rejuvenate progenitor cells and improve therapeutic potential
Technology Summary

Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death among diabetes patients. Compared to unaffected individuals, adult patients with diabetes have 2-6 times higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Likewise, fetal exposure to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) predisposes children to future health complications including hypertension and cardiovascular disease. The connection between diabetes and cardiovascular disease has proven to lead to stress-induced early endothelial dysfunction, which ultimately is responsible for macrovascular and microvascular complications. Roughly 8% of expecting mothers are diagnosed with GDM, but current solutions to restore endothelial dysfunction are limited in that they produce systemic side effects of drugs and limit efficacy.
Researchers at the University of Notre Dame have developed a strategy to rejuvenate endothelial progenitor cells through the use of bioactive liposomal nanoparticles (NPs) for therapeutic use. These NPs have the ability to conjugate on the surface of the endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs) without altering the cell viability for drug delivery purposes, resulting in improved therapeutic potential. The NPs can also normalize protein expression, restore cell migration, and improve vasculogenesis in vitro and in vivo. This improvement in vasculature addresses the range of cardiovascular complications that are precipitated from GDM. This simple cell-surface engineering strategy opens up the possibility of using dysfunctional progenitor cells that would otherwise have been unusable for cell therapy.
Market Advantages
- Cost savings- uses less material and cheaper manufacturing
- Time savings- reduced labor time and less manufacturing
- Increased quality- increased accuracy, sensitivity, and throughput
- Longer lifetime value
Market Applications
- Improve therapeutic potential for cardiovascular complications, tissue repair, and regenerative medicine
Technology Readiness Level
TRL 3- Experimental Proof of Concept
Intellectual Property Status
Patent Pending
Contact
Richard Cox
rcox4@nd.edu
574.631.5158