EAPSI: Developing a Topical Therapeutic for Abnormal Scarring

Ponedal Adam, Evanston IL

Investigators

Abstract

Damage to the skin, such as from a burn or surgical incision, can result in the formation of abnormal scarring. These scars can be painful, disfiguring, and aesthetically unpleasant. Existing treatments have limited efficacy and are not readily accessible. This project proposes to develop a lead compound that can be used to topically treat abnormal scarring in a self-administrable fashion. This compound will be developed from the Spherical Nucleic Acids (SNAs) platform, which have been shown to penetrate the skin and regulate protein expression. The researcher will use the SNA platform to target the major protein implicated in abnormal scar formation and test the compounds in an animal model at Dr. Chenjie Xu's lab, at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Dr. Xu is an internationally recognized expert who researches skin disease using animal models. SNAs are made from a spherical nanoparticle core and dense shell of oriented oligonucleotides (DNA or RNA) covalently bonded to the core. These particles can readily enter cells. Once inside the cells, the oligonucleotides on the surface of the nanoparticle can participate in antisense or RNA interference pathways, giving the SNA the ability to knockdown the expression of target genes by destroying intracellular mRNA before it can be translated into protein. The oligonucleotide sequence can be tailored to specifically knockdown any protein that is expressed in the cells where the SNAs are delivered. This award, under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program, supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the National Research Foundation of Singapore.