Chair: Anthony Mcgoron.
Student Presenters: Pedro Da Costa, Zoe Bernard, Caroline Betances, Juanpablo Olguin, John Hidalgo, Ralph Valentin
Drug carriers at the nanoscale may be able to overcome the undesirable effects of traditional chemotherapeutic agents by maximizing their availability at the target site, and minimizing effects on healthy tissue. The loose interconnections and intercellular openings among tumor vasculature endothelial cells can be easily extravasated by drug loaded nanoparticles (NPs) to improve drug delivery. This phenomenon of localizing NPs in the leaky vasculature of tumor tissues is an example of passive targeting and referred to as Enhanced Permeability and Retention (EPR). The drug carrier also prevents the recognition of drug molecules by cellular efflux pumps such as P-gp and hence helps overcome multidrug resistance (MDR). The therapeutic potential of NPs can be further magnified by tagging them with appropriate ligands that selectively interact with tumor cell membrane receptors, an example of active targeting. NP carriers also have the advantage of being able to carry multiple therapeutic drugs simultaneously with a molecular imaging agent. Molecular Imaging allows visualization of not only organs and cells but also biochemical processes within the cells that are associated with specific disease. This information can improve the accuracy of a diagnosis, provide better assessment of the severity of disease and even monitor the response to therapy.