NIRT: Engineered therapeutic nanoparticles as catalytic antioxidants

Sudipta SealUniversity of Central Florida提案编号：CBET - 0708172视网膜疾病导致全世界数百万人部分或完全丧失视力，并对医疗保健系统造成经济压力。仅在美国，每年就有大约1400万例病例，并且随着平均寿命的增加，可能会进一步增加。虽然这些疾病的原因是多方面的和复杂的，活性氧（ROS）被认为是发挥核心作用。 稀土金属氧化物纳米颗粒（NPs）已经显示出作为治疗剂的前景，以消除这些负责视网膜变性的ROS。然而，目前对这些纳米颗粒与细胞和组织的生物相互作用的理解是有限的，并且这与材料化学、尺寸和表面性质的相关性对于确保安全的临床使用是必要的。中央佛罗里达大学（UCF）和俄克拉荷马州大学（UCF）之间的拟议合作研究将解决工程活性纳米粒子的SOD模拟物和治疗应用所涉及的基本科学问题，并评估其作为新型抗氧化剂在活体动物模型中预防感光细胞死亡的有效性。这些结果将导致治疗方法，延长目前困扰许多人的多种疾病中神经元和组织的功能寿命。

Sudipta SealUniversity of Central FloridaProposal Number: CBET - 0708172 Retinal diseases lead to partial or complete loss of vision to millions of people throughout the world and causing economic stress on healthcare systems. In the United States alone, there are approximately 14 million cases per year and is likely to increase further as the average lifespan increases. Although the causes of these disorders are multiple and complex, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are considered to play a central role. Rare earth metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) have shown promise as a therapeutic agent to scavenge these ROS responsible for retinal degeneration. However the current understanding of the biological interaction of these NPs with cells and tissue is limited and the correlation of this with thematerial chemistry, size and surface properties is necessary to ensure safe clinical usage. The proposed collaborative research between University of Central Florida (UCF) and University of Oklahoma (OU) will address the basic scientific aspects involved in engineering active NPs for SOD mimetics and therapeutic applications and evaluate its effectiveness as novel antioxidants in preventing the death of photoreceptor cells in a living animal model. The results should lead to therapies which will prolong the functional life of neurons and tissues in multiple diseases which currently afflict many people.