Open AccessTargeted polyelectrolyte complex micelles treat vascular complications in vivo
Author(s) -
Zhong Zhou,
ChihFan Yeh,
Michael Mellas,
Myounghak Oh,
Jiayu Zhu,
Jin Li,
RuTing Huang,
Devin Harrison,
TzuPin Shentu,
David Wu,
Michael Lueckheide,
Lauryn Carver,
Eun Ji Chung,
Lorraine Leon,
KaiChien Yang,
Matthew Tirrell,
Yun Fang
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2114842118
Subject(s) - nanomedicine , in vivo , polyelectrolyte , medicine , endothelium , cancer research , pharmacology , chemistry , biology , nanotechnology , materials science , microbiology and biotechnology , nanoparticle , organic chemistry , polymer
Significance Vascular disease is a leading cause of human morbidity and mortality and current therapies mainly target systemic risk factors but not the diseased vasculature per se. We have devised a targeted nanomedicine approach engineering self-assembled polyelectrolyte complex micelles that target inflamed vascular endothelium and simultaneously encapsulate therapeutic nucleic acids. We showed that this targeted nanomedicine strategy effectively delivers therapeutic nucleotides to inflamed endothelium in vivo. The causal role of increased endothelial miR-92a in driving atherosclerosis is established by a new transgenic mouse line. We demonstrated that targeted polyelectrolyte complex micelles significantly enhance the anti–miR-92a therapy treating vascular complications in vivo.