title: Nanoengineering of therapeutics for retinal vascular disease.
abstract: Retinal vascular diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, neovascular age related macular degeneration, and retinal vein occlusion, are leading causes of blindness in the Western world. These diseases share several common disease mechanisms, including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling, hypoxia, and inflammation, which provide opportunities for common therapeutic strategies. Treatment of these diseases using laser therapy, anti-VEGF injections, and/or steroids has significantly improved clinical outcomes. However, these strategies do not address the underlying root causes of pathology, and may have deleterious side effects. Furthermore, many patients continue to progress toward legal blindness despite receiving regular therapy. Nanomedicine, the engineering of therapeutics at the 1-100 nm scale, is a promising approach for improving clinical management of retinal vascular diseases. Nanomedicine-based technologies have the potential to revolutionize the treatment of ophthalmology, through enabling sustained release of drugs over several months, reducing side effects due to specific targeting of dysfunctional cells, and interfacing with currently "undruggable" targets. We will discuss emerging nanomedicine-based applications for the treatment of complications associated with retinal vascular diseases, including angiogenesis and inflammation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, United States.
authors.forename: Nivriti
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gahlaut
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, United States.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suarez
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, United States.
authors.forename: Md Imam
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Uddin
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, United States.
authors.forename: Andrew Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, United States.
authors.forename: Stephanie M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, United States; Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, United States; Pharma Research and Early Development, F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd, Switzerland. Electronic address: ash.jayagopal@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ashwath
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jayagopal
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D050997:Nanomedicine / Q000379:methods; D053758:Nanoparticles; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations
keywords: AMD; Diabetic retinopathy; Nanomedicine; Nanoparticles; Nanotechnology; Retina; Retinal vascular disease