Pegylated POD DNA Nanoparticles Attenuate Retinal Degeneration

Pegylated POD DNA Nanoparticles Attenuate Retinal Degeneration

Date: 10/25/2013
Time: 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Location: 121 Snell Library
Speaker: Dr. Rajendra Kumar-Singh, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Tufts University School of Medicine

Pegylated POD DNA Nanoparticles Attenuate Retinal Degeneration

Peptide for Ocular Delivery (POD) is a 3.5 Kd peptide modeled on the glycosaminoglycan binding sites of acidic and basic fibroblast growth factor.  POD can bind and enter cells within minutes without significant toxicity.  When coupled to fluorescent probes or whole proteins, POD can act as a cell penetrating peptide for delivery of various cargo including siRNA or quantum dots to the cytoplasm and the nucleus.  When pegylated, POD can compact DNA into nanoparticles of approximately 150 nm in size.  These nanoparticles can deliver DNA to the retina of mice undergoing blue light induced photoreceptor apoptosis- a model of retinitis pigmentosa. When coupled with a plasmid expressing glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), pegylated POD GDNF nanoparticles can attenuate the onset of retinal degeneration by several months in mice.