Award
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering 1R15EB036962-01
Engineering Natural Killer Cell Derived Extracellular Vesicular Nanodrug for Tumor Targeted Bioimaging and Therapy
Recipient
University of Texas Tyler, TX
Award Amount
$441,000.00
Ceiling
$441,000.00
Awarded
April 09, 2025
Identifier
1R15EB036962-01
The award funds a project to develop engineered extracellular vesicles derived from natural killer cells for targeted cancer therapy and bioimaging, aiming to improve precision treatment and monitoring of breast cancer.
Description
This project aims to engineer extracellular vesicles (EVs) with an active anticancer drug and exogenous tags for downstream in-vivo analysis of tumor therapy. Cells continuously release EVs which play a crucial role in intracellular communication with their target cells, such as EVs released from tumors surveying metastatic sites and creating microenvironments for cancer development, or EVs from immune cells seeking diseased cells. Delivering drugs with engineered EVs originating from natural killer (NK) cells that naturally seek cancer could enhance precision cancer therapy and monitoring. The project proposes to engineer hybrid EVs (HEVs) from NK cell-derived EVs (NKEVs) combined with liposomes containing doxorubicin and near-infrared dye for image-guided therapy. The specific aims include engineering NKEVs with liposomes and studying their physicochemical properties, assessing biocompatibility and cellular specificity of HEVs, and evaluating biodistribution and therapeutic efficacy in human breast cancer xenograft models.