Type

Text

Type

Dissertation

Advisor

Shroyer, Kenneth | Sitharaman, Balaji | Clark, Richard | Hearing, Patrick | McElroy, Anne.

Date

2014-12-01

Keywords

Biomedical engineering | Chemotherapy, Drug delivery, EGFR, Graphene, HPV, Targeted delivery

Department

Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology.

Language

en_US

Source

This work is sponsored by the Stony Brook University Graduate School in compliance with the requirements for completion of degree.

Identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/11401/76495

Publisher

The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY.

Format

application/pdf

Abstract

Ligands such as peptides, antibodies or other epitopes bind and activate specific cell receptors, and can be employed for targeted cellular delivery of pharmaceuticals such as drugs, genes and imaging agents. In this dissertation, I investigate the in vitro and hematological compatibility of oxidized graphene nanoribbons, non-covalently functionalized with PEG-DSPE (1, 2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N[amino(polyethyleneglycol)]) (O-GNR-PEG-DSPE) and evaluate its potential as a drug delivery agent. Although, O-GNR-PEG-DSPE was found to interact with RBC membrane and induce structural changes in them, they did not affect other hematological parameters. In vitro studies showed that these particles activate epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs) and elicit cell specific uptake and concentration dependent toxicity in cells over-expressing these receptors. Receptor activation was found to occur through a mechanism involving membrane depolarization and influx of extracellular Ca2+. This activation generates a dynamin-dependent macropinocytosis-like response, and results in significant O-GNR-PEG-DSPE uptake into cells with high EGFR expression. Cells with an integrated human papillomavirus (HPV) genome also show increased uptake due to the modulation of the activated EFGR by the viral protein E5. I demonstrate that this cell specific uptake of O-GNR-PEG-DSPE can be exploited to achieve significantly enhanced drug efficacies even in drug resistant cells and xenograft tumors. These results have implications towards the development of active targeting and delivery agents without ligand functionalization for use in the diagnosis and treatment of pathologies that over-express EGFR or mediated by HPV. | 237 pages

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