Friday, April 4, 2025
4/4/2025
Aerosolized microbots as a platform for targeted lung therapy - Project Summary: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among men and women, making up almost 25% of all cancer deaths. For cancers beyond stage 1 some form of chemotherapy is usually given often causing side effects including cytotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, and nephrotoxicity. Avoiding systemic methods by directly delivering chemotherapeutics to the lungs can avoid some of these; however, toxicities remain because chemotherapeutic drugs are not selectively delivered to cancerous cells. We propose here the use of aerosolized and then in situ assembled microbots capable of carrying drug for transport and delivery of chemotherapeutics to specific locations within the lung. Our scientific premise is that individual µbot components of optimal aerodynamic size range can be inhaled into the lungs and assembled in place for subsequent travel down airways to target lung cancer for delivery of chemotherapeutic agents. As both µwheel assembly and driving forces are provided by an external magnetic field, once the procedure is finished, microbots disassemble into small beads removable by the body's natural mechanism for removal of dust and other foreign particles in the mucus lining. Our aims include: Aim 1. Identify magnetic field conditions for aerosolized µbot swarm targeted delivery within in vitro models. Focused on targeted transport within increasingly complex 2D and 3D in vitro lung models, here magnetic-field based targeting approaches will be tested, first within 2D bifurcating microfluidic models and then 3D printed models based on available lung mapping. Aim 2. Determine aerosolized µbot design for drug delivery within in vitro models. Focused on drug transport, we will investigate µbot design and manipulation for the delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs. Aim 3. Quantify the functional benefit of targeted µbot delivery in vivo. Focused on in vivo transport and efficacy, we will use a mouse model for testing of both µbot targeting and drug delivery.
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