|
|
Ultimately, our technology solves the challenges associated with stem
cell therapy for the heart following a myocardial infarction. In
particular, by delivering VEGF to the heart, our technology
revascularizes ischemic areas, making the damaged microenvironment more
hospitable for implanted stem cells. Thus, our technology enables stem
cell therapy to be a viable, nonsurgical option for patients who suffer
from cardiac dysfunction or heart failure following a heart attack.
On a broader level, the development of our two-component strategy for immunotargeted DNA
nanostructures would have a number of positive impacts for patients:
-
Our technology would prevent the premature
death of millions of patients who develop heart failure after
suffering one or more myocardial infarctions.
-
The biomimetic and targeted approaches
employed would minimize side-effects and adverse immune reactions to
system components.
-
The versatility of our system could be
employed to deliver any therapeutic to any cell population in the
body by merely switching out drug payloads and the antibody in the
targeting complex.
-
The principles developed in this technology
could be expanded to develop nanostructures with increased
biosensing capabilities (merely by adding additional "locks" to the
same face of the nanostructure), thus making our the delivery system
even more specific as necessary.
|