Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating disease with no effective treatment. In patients with ALS, the neurons in their brains degenerate, leading to cognitive and physical breakdown. Oth...
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Even though therapeutic compounds have been developed for neurologic disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, these conditions remain difficult to treat in large part because of the blood-brain barrie...
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Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a disorder driven by overproliferating leukemia cells in bone marrow and blood. Targeted therapy uses thyrosine kinase inhibitors to inhibit leukemia cells, but fails...
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As cancer research progresses, it is evident that single drug formulations only provide limited success. Developing combination therapies would greatly benefit patients, especially those who must fol...
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The utility of many biologic drugs is limited by inefficient delivery into cells. Strategies to overcome this limitation have included enhancing the attraction between positively charged drug agents a...
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The ability to control the delivery of biomolecules to cells and tissues has many therapeutic and research applications. In particular, spatial and temporal control over the release of multiple biolog...
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The safe and efficient delivery of DNA into cells is essential for the clinical success of gene therapy. Synthetic polymers are considered long-term alternatives to virus-based gene delivery agents be...
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Methods that allow reactive polymer films to be deposited or assembled on topologically complex substrates are useful for the patterning or chemical modification of surfaces in a broad range of applic...
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The ability to deliver biomolecules, such as proteins or nucleic acids, into cells has many therapeutic and research applications. Polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) have been used to deliver biomolec...
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The ability to deliver proteins into cells has many therapeutic and research applications. However, peptide drugs and therapeutic proteins are notoriously difficult to administer, in part because of t...
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Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are precursors to mesenchymal tissues, such as bone, dental tissue, cartilage, tendon, bone marrow stroma, hematopoietic lineages, and muscle. Bone marrow is a useful sou...
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Thin films and coatings that allow the sustained release of DNA from surfaces play an important role in the development of localized approaches to gene therapy. For example, polymer-coated intravascul...
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Dendritic cells are used as a base for vaccines and in the study of antigen processing within the human body. However, obtaining large quantities of the cells, which are generated in bone marrow, is l...
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Type I diabetes, one of the most common autoimmune diseases in humans, is caused by destruction of pancreatic islet beta cells. Although its symptoms can be controlled, the disease is irreversible. Tr...
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Human embryonic stem (hES) cells have the potential to provide a source of specific cell types for research and ultimately, for therapeutic transplantation into humans.
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Under physiological conditions, bone tissue regeneration involves a complex interplay of multiple biologically active molecules and stem cells. The molecules are often presented sequentially in cascad...
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Dendritic cells play an important role in the process of initiating immune response. They are present in small quantities in tissues, such as skin and lung, that are in contact with the external envir...
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Oral ingestion of pharmaceuticals is considered the safest, most convenient and most economical method of drug administration.  However, many therapeutic drugs cannot be delivered orally because they...
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Human embryonic stem (ES) cells are potentially capable of supplying cells and tissues for replacement of defective human tissue. However, procedures currently used to culture human ES cells involve t...
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Even though therapeutic compounds have been developed for neurologic disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, these conditions remain difficult to treat, largely because of the blood-brain barrier. T...
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Many drugs that are potentially efficacious for treating diseases such as cancer have limited usefulness because they are relatively insoluble and/or toxic. Polymeric micelles can serve as vehicles fo...
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Many drugs that are potentially efficacious for treating diseases, such as cancer, have limited usefulness because they are relatively insoluble. Preparing these drugs in an amorphous, or “glassy,�...
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