Executive Summary
Polymers such as polylactic acid (PLA) are commonly used as bioabsorbable materials for implants. Unfortunately, degradation products from these often promote adverse host immune responses in patients, which may require a secondary medical intervention such as surgery to remove the implant. To attempt to counter this, some implant technologies incorporate pH modifying ingredients, which ostensibly act by regulating the local acidity at the implant surface. However, this approach has not completely controlled the chronic inflammation associated with implanted materials. MSU researchers have recently discovered that metabolic reprogramming and altered bioenergetics is a key reason for adverse immune responses and have developed a novel means of reducing them by the incorporation of metabolic inhibitors into implanted materials.
Description of the Technology
This technology utilizes various small molecule inhibitors incorporated into the implant material to target metabolic pathways in key immune cells. The presence, and then release of these inhibitors during the breakdown of PLA-based implants, inhibits different steps of the glycolytic pathway and prevents undesired inflammation. A variety of types of inhibitors can be incorporated into the implant such as on the surface or dispersed in the material depending on the application. The implementation of these small molecule inhibitors into biomedical implants enables the safe application in soft- and hard- tissue regeneration, nanomedicine, and drug delivery. This technology has currently been demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo.
Benefits
Applications
Patent Status
Published application WO2023147048A1
Licensing Rights
Full licensing rights available
References
Jan 12, 2023 ACS Article
Oct 28, 2022 BioRxiv article
Inventors
Dr. Chima Maduka, DVM, PhD, Dr. Christopher H. Contag, PhD
TECH ID
TEC2022-0039