Abstract
HIV-1 still remains one of the
leading life-threatening diseases in the world. The introduction of Highly
Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) has significantly reduced
HIV-infection-related morbidity and mortality. However, most antiretroviral
drugs have a short half-life and need to be in circulation constantly to
control the virus replication. As a result, it is believed that missing a
medication dose even once can provide an opportunity for viruses to replicate
such that a medication resistant HIV strain may develop. Being the largest
lymphoid organ, the gastrointestinal tract plays a key role in not only early
HIV infection in establishing viral reservoirs in gut-associated lymphoid
tissue (GALT) but also disease pathology. Many different treatment options have
been proposed to eradicate the virus from GALT; however, due to the complex
physiology involved, it is difficult to design drugs that are targeted toward
GALT.FIU inventors have developed
nanodrugs comprising an active agent, a poloxamer, and an antibody to
glycoprotein-2 (GP2) or antibody fragment to GP2 that targets microfold cells
(M-cells) and facilitates the uptake of the nanodrug by M-cells. M-cells are
specialized epithelial cells that are predominantly present in the GALT. Once
attached to the M-cells, the nanodrugs are transferred from intestine to GALT
via transcytosis mechanisms.
Benefit
Survives stomach digestionReduce therapeutic dosage and associated side effectsDirectly act on the HIV-1 in GALT
Market Application
Targeted nanodrug delivery to the GALTTreatment of HIV-1 infection
Publications
Roy U, Ding H, Pilakka-Kanthikeel
S, et al. Preparation and characterization of anti-HIV nanodrug targeted to
microfold cell of gut-associated lymphoid tissue. Int J Nanomedicine.
2015;10:5819-5835. Published 2015 Sep 18. doi:10.2147/IJN.S68348
Brochure
