Therapy and Measurement in Single Compartments

Therapy and Measurement in Single Compartments

Date: 09/19/2014
Time: 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Location: 121 Snell Library
Speaker: Dr. Micheal Cima, Faculty Director of the Lemelson-MIT Program Department of Materials Science and Engineering Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research

Therapy and Measurement in Single Compartments

Compartments such as the bladder, peritoneum, and brain are often sites of disease and can sometimes be viewed as “privileged,” since they intrinsically hinder the delivery of systemically administered agents and segregate important diagnostic analytes. This talk discusses several methods that physically target drugs and enhance measurements to individual compartments of the body. These compartments have become the focus of a wide array of procedures and devices for direct administration of drugs and diagnostic procedures. The rationale behind single compartment drug delivery or measurement is briefly discussed. As an example of compartment-specific drug delivery, strategies for intraperitoneal (IP) delivery of cisplatin will be introduced, including implantable drug delivery devices. Targeted MRI contrast agents have proven useful in research and clinical studies for highlighting specific metabolites and biomarkers, but their applicability in serial imaging is limited due a changing concentration post injection due to metabolism and distribution. This talk will describe a novel class of contrast agent that comprises a responsive material for contrast generation and an injectable polymeric matrix for structural support. The specific example is a contrast agent sensitive to hypoxia. It is composed of dodecamethylpentasiloxane (DDMPS) as the responsive material and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as the matrix material. A rodent inspired-gas model demonstrated that these materials are functionally stable in vivo for at least one month. We also observed minimal adverse tissue reactions or migration of contrast agents from the initial injection site. This class of contrast agents represents a new and complementary method to monitor cancer with the MRI.