Research Summary
The Hanes lab is focused on the development of advanced delivery systems to make drugs, vaccines, and nucleic acid based therapies more effective. A focus of our research is to develop the fundamental and applied knowledge needed to create biomaterial-based nanoparticles that overcome long-standing biological barriers and, thereby, enhance the efficiency of drug and nucleic acid delivery to specific sites in the body. To guide our development of improved drug carrier systems, we use state-of-the-art biophysical tools, including high-resolution particle tracking techniques, to quantify the nanoscopic movements of thousands of individual polymeric drug and gene nanocarriers in complex biological environments, especially in tissues such as the brain, extracellular barriers such as mucus gels, and inside live cells. Our lab has used new insights from our fundamental work to develop technologies that have led to the launch of companies that are developing products for humans. One example is the discovery of methods to make nanoparticles that rapidly penetrate human mucus barriers, which has led to new research into the development of nanoparticle-based drugs or nucleic acid therapies to prevent or treat diseases or conditions such as ocular inflammation, cystic fibrosis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, inflammatory bowel disease, lung and cervical cancer, sexually transmitted infections, and more. Another example is the discovery of methods to produce biodegradable polymers that contain anti-angiogenic drugs built into the polymeric backbone; these systems are now being developed in industry to treat cancer and ocular diseases like age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.
Selected Publications
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Nance E, Timbie K, Miller GW, Song J, Louttit C, Klibanov AL, Shih TY, Swaminathan G, Tamargo RJ, Woodworth GF, Hanes J, Price RJ. Non-invasive delivery of stealth, brain-penetrating nanoparticles across the blood-brain barrier using MRI-guided focused ultrasound. J Control Release. 2014 Sep 10;189:123-32. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2014.06.031. Epub 2014 Jun 28. PMID: 24979210 [PubMed - in process]
Schuster BS, Kim AJ, Kays JC, Kanzawa MM, Guggino WB, Boyle MP, Rowe SM, Muzyczka N, Suk JS, Hanes J. Overcoming the Cystic Fibrosis Sputum Barrier to Leading Adeno-associated Virus Gene Therapy Vectors. Mol Ther. 2014 Aug;22(8):1484-93. doi: 10.1038/mt.2014.89. Epub 2014 May 29. PMID: 24869933 [PubMed - in process]
Yang M, Lai SK, Yu T, Wang YY, Happe C, Zhong W, Zhang M, Anonuevo A, Fridley C, Hung A, Fu J, Hanes J. Nanoparticle penetration of human cervicovaginal mucus: The effect of polyvinyl alcohol. J Control Release. 2014 Jul 29. pii: S0168-3659(14)00526-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2014.07.045. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 25090196
Birket SE, Chu KK, Liu L, Houser GH, Diephuis BJ, Wilsterman EJ, Dierksen G, Mazur M, Shastry S, Li Y, Watson JD, Smith AT, Schuster BS, Hanes J, Grizzle WE, Sorscher EJ, Tearney GJ, Rowe SM. A Functional Anatomic Defect of the Cystic Fibrosis Airway. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2014 Jul 16. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 25029666
Yang M, Yu T, Wang YY, Lai SK, Zeng Q, Miao B, Tang BC, Simons BW, Ensign LM, Liu G, Chan KW, Juang CY, Mert O, Wood J, Fu J, McMahon MT, Wu TC, Hung CF, Hanes J. Cancer Therapy: Vaginal Delivery of Paclitaxel via Nanoparticles with Non-Mucoadhesive Surfaces Suppresses Cervical Tumor Growth (Adv. Healthcare Mater. 7/2014). Adv Healthc Mater. 2014 Jul;3(7):1120. doi: 10.1002/adhm.201470037. PMID: 25044457
