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Smart nano polymers biomaterials detect, treat and prevent disease applications

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Smart nano polymers,  biomaterials to detect, treat and prevent disease, a breakthrough in NanoEngineering in the field of medical science.

The Almutairi lab in nano science develops responsive polymers and polymer-based materials with sophisticated architectures to address a wide range of challenges in biological research and medicine. These materials fall apart upon exposure to the biochemistry of disease or externally controlled stimuli such as light, a highly creative strategy towards drug targeting that has also led to the development of disease-activated imaging agents.

Polymer, nanoparticles, and hydrogels have a wide range of therapeutic, diagnostic, or cosmetic applications. A smart substance that has a molecular structure consisting chiefly or entirely of a large number of similar units bonded together.

Because of their broad range of properties, both synthetic and natural polymers play an essential and ubiquitous role in everyday life. Polymers range from familiar synthetic plastics such as polystyrene to natural biopolymers such as DNA and proteins that are fundamental to biological structure and function.

Types of polymer materials structure and sythesis

Polymers, both natural and synthetic, are created via polymerization of many small molecules, known as monomers. Their consequently large molecular mass relative to small molecule compounds produces unique physical properties, including toughness, viscoelasticity, and a tendency to form glasses and semicrystalline structures rather than crystals.

Adah Abdurrahman Almutairi, a Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, in her most recent discovery is a novel mechanism which uses light to activate drug-delivering nanoparticles.  Targeted therapeutic substances inside the body. Together with her group, they develop responsive polymers and polymer-based materials with sophisticated architectures to address a wide range of challenges in biological research and medicine.

Smart nano polymers and their applications

In her polymer project and research work, she applies cutting-edge macromolecular engineering techniques and nanotechnology to innovate the visualisation of molecular processes in living organisms and to improve drug delivery and biopharmaceutics.

Prof. Almutairi’s group takes a unique approach to creating nanoparticles that release their contents in response to a stimulus, designing polymers that fall apart into small molecules. This should make their nanomaterials especially useful in vivo, as small molecules are more rapidly cleared than large polymer chains. Further, it’s enabled them to make several breakthrough polymers. Including the first near infrared-degradable polymer and the first nanoparticle to release in response to disease-relevant concentrations of peroxide.

They also contributed another innovative concept to the field by introducing two logic gate polymers (one is pH-responsive and one responds to the combination of peroxide and low pH). In which degrade in a two step response to allow rapid release while maintaining stability in the absence of stimuli.

Nano polymers as particle and hydrogels

Smart polymers that degrade into small molecules in response to mild acid, oxidative conditions, or light (even near infrared light, which can safely penetrate living tissue). Formulating these nano polymers into nanoparticles and hydrogels allows delivery of a variety of cargo, from drugs to imaging agents to biological molecules.

These materials enable unprecedented control over delivery and should allow complete clearance of the carrier. They could be used to create biomedical research tools, diagnostic agents, and drug formulations that rapidly advance understanding and treatment of disease.

At a conference in Berlin recently, Almutairi announced her most recent research based on merging light-activated nanoparticles and lanthanides to increase sufficiency of solar energy.
But solar energy and desalination won’t be the end of Ghada’s creativity. The vast array of practical uses of her research — touching on everything from diabetes to MRI imaging — draws great interest from pharmaceutical, cosmetic, chemical and energy companies all over the world.

Almutairi’s work has won her numerous awards and given her access to funds including: UC Dissertation Award, UC Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship, PhRMA Foundation Starter Grant, and NIH New Innovator Award.

Nano scientist Ghada Almutairi is a Saudi polymer chemist. However, she chooses to introduce herself as a “nano- constructor” or “plastic surgeon”. Since an early age, she prepared herself to qualify for major global challenges. Her problem solving skills always hold her in good stead while facing challenges in her personal and professional lives. IMAGE/ Dr. Adah Almutairi in lab at UCSD

Rat lungworm disease infects human through raw food

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Rat lungworm disease common route of infection of cantonesis in humans is by ingesting slug slime, contaminated fruits, vegetables and water.

Especially raw or undercooked slugs, snails, mollusks, prawns. Experts say the most probable cause is contaminated products, humans are incidental and dead end hosts of this parasite.

‘Rat lungworm’ disease, or angiostrongylus, is a parasite that is carried by rats and transferred to humans by slugs or flatworms.

Transmission can also happen when people eat infected crabs, shrimp, lizards and frogs, though this is believed to be less common, expert said. There may also be very rare cases of contamination through water.

Angiostrongylus cantonensis is very common in Southeast Asia and Western Pacific Islands including Australia. Most cases result from eating raw or undercooked snails, which is native to SE Asia.

In humans, the parasite will not develop to sexual maturity and may live for up to a year in the human body but will eventually die. While the parasite has been in Hawaii a long time, cases of illness have risen with the introduction and increase in the population of an invasive semi-slug.

Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a parasitic nematode that causes angiostrongyliasis, the most common cause of eosinophilic meningitis in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Basin. It lies with invasive species finding their way to Hawai’i, such as rats, the primary carrier, snails and slugs that carry high loads of the parasite and whose populations are increasing and spreading on the islands.

Recent rat lungworm disease cases, 9 confirmed in Hawaii Island

The Department of Health say to date there are nine confirmed cases of the disease. Four are Maui residents, two are visitors who contracted it on Maui, and three live on Hawaii Island.

In 2015 Department of Health record, 38 of the 42 reported cases of ‘rat lungworm’ statewide since 2007. It has become such a concern that the University of Hawai’i at Hilo is hosting a presentation on Wednesday night to educate the public about disease prevention.

“Every now and then we do health advisories in the local newspaper. We don’t want to cause panic so we don’t continuously print it, but we do but prevention methods in there along with the advisory,” the state Health Department’s Marlena Dixon explained to Big Island Video News.

Officials say ‘Rat lungworm disease’ is a completely preventable infection, if people thoroughly wash all their fruits and vegetables. Cases of eosinophilic meningitis caused by the rat lungworm parasite have risen sharply in Hawaii over the past 5 years.