Person: Bhatia, Sangeeta
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Bhatia
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Sangeeta
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Bhatia, Sangeeta
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Publication Renal clearable catalytic gold nanoclusters for in vivo disease monitoring(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2019-09) Loynachan, Colleen; Soleimany, Ava; Dudani, Jaideep; Lin, Yiyang; Najer, Adrian; Bekdemir, Ahmet; Chen, Qu; Bhatia, Sangeeta; Stevens, MollyUltrasmall gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) have emerged as agile probes for in vivo imaging, as they exhibit exceptional tumour accumulation and efficient renal clearance properties. However, their intrinsic catalytic activity, which can enable an increased detection sensitivity, has yet to be explored for in vivo sensing. By exploiting the peroxidase-mimicking activity of AuNCs and the precise nanometre-size filtration of the kidney, we designed multifunctional protease nanosensors that respond to disease microenvironments to produce a direct colorimetric urinary readout of the disease state in less than one hour. We monitored the catalytic activity of AuNCs in the collected urine of a mouse model of colorectal cancer in which tumour-bearing mice showed a 13-fold increase in colorimetric signal compared to healthy mice. The nanosensors were eliminated completely through hepatic and renal excretion within four weeks of injection with no evidence of toxicity. We envision that this modular approach will enable the rapid detection of a diverse range of diseases by exploiting their specific enzymatic signatures.Publication Engineered Livers for Infectious Diseases(Elsevier, 2018) Gural, Nil; Mancio-Silva, Liliana; He, Jiang; Bhatia, SangeetaEngineered liver systems come in a variety of platform models, from 2-dimensional cocultures of primary human hepatocytes and stem cell–derived progeny, to 3-dimensional organoids and humanized mice. Because of the species-specificity of many human hepatropic pathogens, these engineered systems have been essential tools for biologic discovery and therapeutic agent development in the context of liver-dependent infectious diseases. Although improvement of existing models is always beneficial, and the addition of a robust immune component is a particular need, at present, considerable progress has been made using this combination of research platforms. We highlight advances in the study of hepatitis B and C viruses and malaria-causing Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax parasites, and underscore the importance of pairing the most appropriate model system and readout modality with the particular experimental question at hand, without always requiring a platform that recapitulates human physiology in its entirety.Publication A combinatorial extracellular matrix platform identifies cell-extracellular matrix interactions that correlate with metastasis(2013) Reticker-Flynn, Nathan E.; Braga Malta, David F.; Winslow, Monte M.; Lamar, John M.; Xu, Mary J.; Underhill, Gregory H.; Hynes, Richard O.; Jacks, Tyler E.; Bhatia, SangeetaExtracellular matrix interactions play essential roles in normal physiology and many pathological processes. While the importance of ECM interactions in metastasis is well documented, systematic approaches to identify their roles in distinct stages of tumorigenesis have not been described. Here we report a novel screening platform capable of measuring phenotypic responses to combinations of ECM molecules. Using a genetic mouse model of lung adenocarcinoma, we measure the ECM-dependent adhesion of tumor-derived cells. Hierarchical clustering of the adhesion profiles differentiates metastatic cell lines from primary tumor lines. Furthermore, we uncovered that metastatic cells selectively associate with fibronectin when in combination with galectin-3, galectin-8, or laminin. We show that these molecules correlate with human disease and that their interactions are mediated in part by α3β1 integrin. Thus, our platform allowed us to interrogate interactions between metastatic cells and their microenvironments, and identified ECM and integrin interactions that could serve as therapeutic targets.Publication Nanoparticles That Sense Thrombin Activity As Synthetic Urinary Biomarkers of Thrombosis(American Chemical Society, 2013) Lin, Kevin Y.; Kwong, Gabriel A.; Warren, Andrew D.; Wood, David K.; Bhatia, SangeetaThrombin is a serine protease and regulator of hemostasis that plays a critical role in the formation of obstructive blood clots, or thrombosis, that is a life-threatening condition associated with numerous diseases such as atherosclerosis and stroke. To detect thrombi in living animals, we design and conjugate thrombin-sensitive peptide substrates to the surface of nanoparticles. Following intravenous infusion, these “synthetic biomarkers” survey the host vasculature for coagulation and, in response to substrate cleavage by thrombin, release ligand-encoded reporters into the host urine. To detect the urinary reporters, we develop a companion 96-well immunoassay that utilizes antibodies to bind specifically to the ligands, thus capturing the reporters for quantification. Using a thromboplastin-induced mouse model of pulmonary embolism, we show that urinary biomarker levels differentiate between healthy and thrombotic states and correlate closely with the aggregate burden of clots formed in the lungs. Our results demonstrate that synthetic biomarkers can be engineered to sense vascular diseases remotely from the urine and may allow applications in point-of-care diagnostics.Publication Identification of small molecules for human hepatocyte expansion and iPS differentiation(2013) Shan, Jing; Schwartz, Robert E.; Ross, Nathan T.; Logan, David J.; Thomas, David; Duncan, Stephen A.; North, Trista; Goessling, Wolfram; Carpenter, Anne E.; Bhatia, SangeetaCell-based therapies hold the potential to alleviate the growing burden of liver diseases. Such therapies require human hepatocytes, which, within the stromal context of the liver, are capable of many rounds of replication. However, this ability is lost ex vivo and human hepatocyte sourcing has been limiting many fields of research for decades. Here, we developed a high-throughput screening platform for primary human hepatocytes to identify small molecules in two different classes that can be used to generate renewable sources of functional human hepatocytes. One class induced functional proliferation of primary human hepatocytes in vitro. The second class enhanced hepatocyte functions and promoted differentiation of iPS-derived hepatocytes, toward a phenotype more mature than what was previously obtainable. The identification of these small molecules can help to address a major challenge impacting many facets of liver research and may lead to the development of novel therapeutics for liver diseases.Publication Self-Titrating Anticoagulant Nanocomplexes That Restore Homeostatic Regulation of the Coagulation Cascade(American Chemical Society, 2014) Lin, Kevin Y.; Lo, Justin H.; Consul, Nikita; Kwong, Gabriel A.; Bhatia, SangeetaAntithrombotic therapy is a critical portion of the treatment regime for a number of life-threatening conditions, including cardiovascular disease, stroke, and cancer; yet, proper clinical management of anticoagulation remains a challenge because existing agents increase the propensity for bleeding in patients. Here, we describe the development of a bioresponsive peptide–polysaccharide nanocomplex that utilizes a negative feedback mechanism to self-titrate the release of anticoagulant in response to varying levels of coagulation activity. This nanoscale self-titrating activatable therapeutic, or nanoSTAT, consists of a cationic thrombin-cleavable peptide and heparin, an anionic polysaccharide and widely used clinical anticoagulant. Under nonthrombotic conditions, nanoSTATs circulate inactively, neither releasing anticoagulant nor significantly prolonging bleeding time. However, in response to life-threatening pulmonary embolism, nanoSTATs locally release their drug payload and prevent thrombosis. This autonomous negative feedback regulator may improve antithrombotic therapy by increasing the therapeutic window and decreasing the bleeding risk of anticoagulants.Publication Identification and Characterization of Receptor-Specific Peptides for siRNA Delivery(American Chemical Society, 2012) Ren, Yin; Hauert, Sabine; Lo, Justin H.; Bhatia, SangeetaTumor-targeted delivery of siRNA remains a major barrier in fully realizing the therapeutic potential of RNA interference. While cell-penetrating peptides (CPP) are promising siRNA carrier candidates, they are universal internalizers that lack cell-type specificity. Herein, we design and screen a library of tandem tumor-targeting and cell-penetrating peptides that condense siRNA into stable nanocomplexes for cell type-specific siRNA delivery. Through physiochemical and biological characterization, we identify a subset of the nanocomplex library of that are taken up by cells via endocytosis, trigger endosomal escape and unpacking of the carrier, and ultimately deliver siRNA to the cytosol in a receptor-specific fashion. To better understand the structure–activity relationships that govern receptor-specific siRNA delivery, we employ computational regression analysis and identify a set of key convergent structural properties, namely the valence of the targeting ligand and the charge of the peptide, that help transform ubiquitously internalizing cell-penetrating peptides into cell type-specific siRNA delivery systems.Publication Silicon Nanoparticles as Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance Imaging Agents(American Chemical Society, 2009) Aptekar, Jacob W.; Cassidy, Maja Clare; Johnson, Alexander C.; Barton, Robert A.; Lee, Menyoung; Ogier, Alexander C.; Vo, Chinh; Anahtar, Melis; Yin, Ren; Bhatia, Sangeeta; Ramanathan, Chandrasekhar; Cory, David G.; Hill, Alison; Mair, Ross; Rosen, Matthew; Walsworth, Ronald; Marcus, CMagnetic resonance imaging of hyperpolarized nuclei provides high image contrast with little or no background signal. To date, in vivo applications of prehyperpolarized materials have been limited by relatively short nuclear spin relaxation times. Here, we investigate silicon nanoparticles as a new type of hyperpolarized magnetic resonance imaging agent. Nuclear spin relaxation times for a variety of Si nanoparticles are found to be remarkably long, ranging from many minutes to hours at room temperature, allowing hyperpolarized nanoparticles to be transported, administered, and imaged on practical time scales. Additionally, we demonstrate that Si nanoparticles can be surface functionalized using techniques common to other biologically targeted nanoparticle systems. These results suggest that Si nanoparticles can be used as a targetable, hyperpolarized magnetic resonance imaging agent with a large range of potential applications.Publication Statistical Dynamics of Flowing Red Blood Cells by Morphological Image Processing(Public Library of Science, 2009) Higgins, John; Eddington, David T.; Bhatia, Sangeeta; Mahadevan, LakshminarayananBlood is a dense suspension of soft non-Brownian cells of unique importance. Physiological blood flow involves complex interactions of blood cells with each other and with the environment due to the combined effects of varying cell concentration, cell morphology, cell rheology, and confinement. We analyze these interactions using computational morphological image analysis and machine learning algorithms to quantify the non-equilibrium fluctuations of cellular velocities in a minimal, quasi-two-dimensional microfluidic setting that enables high-resolution spatio-temporal measurements of blood cell flow. In particular, we measure the effective hydrodynamic diffusivity of blood cells and analyze its relationship to macroscopic properties such as bulk flow velocity and density. We also use the effective suspension temperature to distinguish the flow of normal red blood cells and pathological sickled red blood cells and suggest that this temperature may help to characterize the propensity for stasis in Virchow's Triad of blood clotting and thrombosis.Publication Steroid Hormone Function Controls Non-competitive Plasmodium Development in Anopheles(Elsevier BV, 2019-04) Werling, Kristine; Shaw, William; Itoe, Maurice; Westervelt, Kathleen; Marcenac, Perrine; Paton, Douglas; Peng, Duo; Singh, Naresh; Smidler, Andrea L.; South, Adam; Deik, Amy; Mancio-Silva, Liliana; Demas, Allison R.; March, Sandra; Calvo, Eric; Bhatia, Sangeeta; Clish, Clary B.; Catteruccia, FlaminiaTransmission of malaria parasites occurs when a female Anopheles mosquito feeds on an infected host to acquire nutrients for egg development. How parasites are affected by oogenetic processes, principally orchestrated by the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), remains largely unknown. Here we show that Plasmodium falciparum development is intimately but not competitively linked to processes shaping Anopheles gambiae reproduction. We unveil a 20E-mediated positive correlation between egg and oocyst numbers, such that impairing oogenesis by multiple 20E manipulations decreases parasite intensities. These manipulations, however, accelerate Plasmodium growth rates, allowing sporozoites to become infectious sooner. Parasites exploit mosquito lipids for faster growth, but they do so without further impacting egg development. These results suggest that P. falciparum has adopted a non-competitive evolutionary strategy of resource exploitation to optimize transmission while minimizing fitness costs to its mosquito vector. Our findings have profound implications for currently proposed control strategies aimed at suppressing mosquito populations.