Tech Session VII: Nanomedicine and Nanoscale Delivery (Focus: Bioengineering)
Novel glucose dendrimer approach to target hyperactive neurons in vivo: mechanistic insights
Friday, July 18, 2025
9:16 AM - 9:27 AM EDT
Location: 121 B/C
Introduction: Hyperactive neurons are central to disorders like epilepsy, stroke, and neuropathic pain, where excessive activity leads to cellular dysfunction and mitochondrial damage, necessitating innovative therapies. Neurons, being non-phagocytic, are challenging to target at pathology sites. We developed glucose dendrimers (GD), composed of PEG and glucose via scalable click chemistry.[1] Unlike PAMAM dendrimers (HD) targeting microglia, GD selectively targets hyperactive neurons. This study explores GD's targeting mechanisms, intracellular dynamics, and translational potential.
Learning Objectives:
At the completion of this activity, participants will know
Understand how glucose dendrimers target hyperactive neurons at cellular and subcellular levels.
Compare the neuronal targeting specificity of glucose dendrimers versus PAMAM dendrimers.
Assess the potential of GD-based drug-conjugates for precise delivery in neurological disorders.
Wathsala Liyanage – Research Associate, Center For Nanomedicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; Rui Huang – Visiting scholar, Center For Nanomedicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; Nirnath Sah – Postdoctoral fellow, Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; Preeti Vyas – Postdoctoral fellow, Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; Kunal Parikh – Assistant Professor, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; Sujatha Kannan – Professor, Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; Rangaramanujam Kannan – Professor, Center for Nanomedicine, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
