The vitreous humor is a fragile, transparent tissue between the lens and the retina of the eye that maintains the shape of the eye, acts as a shock absorber, and enables nutrient diffusion to ocular tissues. The vitreous also plays a key role in oxygen homeostasis. Over time, the vitreous degrades…

Nucleic Acid (NA) based therapies are used to inhibit gene expression. Lipid nanoparticles (LNs) are capable of carrying these therapies into cells. However, this delivery requires overcoming several physiological barriers. For instance, one barrier is the acidic endosome conditions within the cel…

Stimuli-responsive nanoparticles (NPs) hold great promise for controlling drug release inside cancer cells. An obstacle to the effectiveness of this approach to chemotherapeutic drug delivery is the rapid expulsion of the delivered drug catalyzed by efflux pumps in the cell's plasma membrane. …

Retinal diseases can be extremely difficult to monitor once procedures have been initiated. AMD is the fourth most common causes of blindness and requires monthly injections to manage the effects of the disease and prevent permanent blindness. However, receiving recurrent injections can potentiall…

The majority of human cancers remain incurable, in many cases this is due to innate or developed multi-drug resistance (MDR). Current therapeutics used in treatment are inadequate in light of such resistance, and more robust approaches must be found to circumvent these responses and deliver therap…

In combating malignancies as complex as cancer, researchers and clinicians have created a diverse set of strategies to reduce tumor burden. Oncolytic viruses (OVs) have emerged as a promising means of treating this disease due to their potential to selectively target and effectively kill cancer ce…

Most breast cancers express estrogen receptor alpha (ER α) and antagonists of ER α drugs, such as tamoxifen, have been widely used for their treatment. Unfortunately, up to half of all ER α -positive tumors have intrinsic or acquired endocrine therapy resistance. Recent studies b…

Lipid-based nanoparticles (LNPs) have been extensively utilized in nucleic acid delivery. However, there are a number of challenges associated with LNP formulation. It is difficult to make sub-100-nm LNPs with a high nucleic acid concentration by traditional self-assembly methods. LNP synthesis ty…

As one of the top three swine respiratory health problems in the U.S., swine influenza virus (SIV) is a key concern for the industry. SIV – referred to as “swine flu” or “flu” – can be caused by a number of different swine influenza strains. SIV has evolved from…

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in individuals 65 and older and is the third leading cause of blindness worldwide. Wet AMD is characterized by abnormal growth of leaky blood vessels leading to damage to the macula of the retina resulting in vision loss and …