Improving Stem Cell Delivery to the Trabecular Meshwork Using Magnetic Nanoparticles

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: E. J. Snider, Georgia Institute of Technology; K. P. Kubelick, Georgia Institute of Technology; K. Tweed, Georgia Institute of Technology; R. K. Kim, Georgia Institute of Technology; Y. Li, Georgia Institute of Technology; K. Gao, Georgia Institute of Technology; A. T. Read, Georgia Institute of Technology; Stanislav Emelianov, Emory University; Ross Ethier, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2018-08-16
• Publisher: Nature Research (part of Springer Nature): Fully open access journals
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2018, The Author(s).
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-30834-7
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Scientific Reports
• ISSN: 2045-2322
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 12251
• End Page: 12251
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by the Georgia Research Alliance (CRE, SE), National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (EJS, DGE-1148903) and was performed in part at the Georgia Tech Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology, a member of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure, which is supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant ECCS-1542174).
• Keywords: EXPRESSION; MODEL; ANTERIOR SEGMENT; INTRAOCULAR-PRESSURE; IMAGE-ANALYSIS; PHAGOCYTOSIS; Multidisciplinary Sciences; FLOW-CYTOMETRY; AQUEOUS-HUMOR OUTFLOW; Science & Technology; Science & Technology - Other Topics; OPEN-ANGLE GLAUCOMA; ORGAN-CULTURE
• Research Categories: Engineering, Chemical; Engineering, Biomedical

Abstract

Glaucoma is a major cause of blindness and is frequently associated with elevated intraocular pressure. The trabecular meshwork (TM), the tissue that primarily regulates intraocular pressure, is known to have reduced cellularity in glaucoma. Thus, stem cells, if properly delivered to the TM, may offer a novel therapeutic option for intraocular pressure control in glaucoma patients. For this purpose, targeted delivery of stem cells to the TM is desired. Here, we used magnetic nanoparticles (Prussian blue nanocubes [PBNCs]) to label mesenchymal stem cells and to magnetically steer them to the TM following injection into the eye’s anterior chamber. PBNC-labeled stem cells showed increased delivery to the TM vs. unlabeled cells after only 15-minute exposure to a magnetic field. Further, PBNC-labeled mesenchymal stem cells could be delivered to the entire circumference of the TM, which was not possible without magnetic steering. PBNCs did not affect mesenchymal stem cell viability or multipotency. We conclude that this labeling approach allows for targeted, relatively high-efficiency delivery of stem cells to the TM in clinically translatable time-scales, which are necessary steps towards regenerative medicine therapies for control of ocular hypertension in glaucoma patients.