Acute inflammatory diseases, including sepsis, pneumonia, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), account for over 1.5 million hospitalizations and 300,000 deaths per year in the US.  These diseases all share a common cellular player known as marginated leukocytes.

Marginated leukocytes are white blood cells that accumulate in the blood vessels of inflamed organs and potentiate disease progression by releasing toxins and pro-inflammatory cytokines and induce clotting and further inflammation.  Accumulation of marginated leukocytes can ultimately lead to organ dysfunction.

Drs. Brenner, Muzykantov and Meyerson developed a molecular label consisting of an IgG antibody bound to dibenzocyclooctyne (D20 tag). When attached to nanoparticles, the D20 tag almost exclusively localized to marginated leukocytes to alleviate disease symptoms in a small animal model of acute inflammatory injury. Using the D20 tag to target marginated leukocytes with imaging agents or drugs could better enable clinical diagnosis and treatment of acute inflammatory diseases.

• Provides ~ 50% more protection against cellular leakage than non-tagged nanoparticles following inflammatory injury, which is key for alleviating acute inflammatory disease progression
• Provides ~ 2x specificity to inflamed lung tissue versus heart, liver, spleen, and kidneys following inflammatory lung injury, which is key for accurately diagnosing and effectively treating acute inflammatory diseases
• Compatible with liposomes for small molecule drug or imaging agent delivery and solid lipid nanoparticles for modified mRNA delivery