A team of researchers from WSU’s College of Engineering, School of Medicine and the Kresge Eye Institute - Ligon Center, have been collaborating to discover and develop new nanodevices that will aid in the diagnosis and treatment  of a number of neuroinflammatory diseases and infections that are currently difficult to target and treat.

The team led by Rangaramanujam Kannan, Ph.D., associate professor of Chemical Engineering, with collaborators Sujatha Kannan, M.D., assistant professor of Pediatrics and Raymond Iezzi, Jr., M.D., assistant professor of Ophthalmology at the Kresge Eye Institute, have received funding recently from the Ralph Wilson Medical Research Foundation to develop a therapeutic approach that will target and treat neuroinflammation in age-related macular degeneration and cerebral palsy by developing a novel drug-dendrimer-based sustained delivery nanodevice formulations, which are currently being patented by the team. The research may also have a strong impact on diseases such as Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, amytrophic lateral sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease. In addition, the husband and wife Kannan team are collaborating with the Perinatology Research Branch (PRB) of the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development housed at Wayne State University and the Detroit Medical Center to establish a nanotechnology unit to develop diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to fetal inflammation with the goal of addressing an important cause of preterm birth and fetal injury. The precise goal is to develop a dendrimer-based nanodevice that will be used for diagnosis and treatment of inflammation and infections for applications in maternal-fetal medicine.

“The PRB has established a unit to develop applications of nanotechnology in perinatal medicine under the leadership of Dr. Kannan because we’re convinced that this approach will enhance early diagnosis of inflammation in utero as well as treatment,” commented Roberto Romero, M.D., chief of the Perinatology Research Branch. “Dr. Sujatha Kannan and Dr. R. Kannan have established an animal model of inflammation-induced cerebral palsy and explored potential mechanisms to prevent such injury. Application to humans requires new methods for diagnosis and drug delivery into the amniotic cavity.  Such goals could be accomplished using nanotechnology and, hence, the partnership between Dr. Kannan and the Perinatology Research Branch,” Dr. Romero added.

Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) and cerebral palsy (CP) are two major diseases that affect individuals at opposite ends of the age spectrum. ARMD is a retinal degeneration that affects more than nine million elderly individuals and CP affects millions of children. “There is an increasing body of literature, in addition to evidence from our own research relating to the disease mechanisms, that suggests that neuroinflammation plays a key role in the pathogenesis and evolution of both of these diseases,” said R. Kannan. “Through funding from Mr. Wilson’s medical research foundation, we hope to develop therapeutic approaches that will target and treat neuroinflammation and lead to improved treatment outcomes,” he added.

“The novel drug discovery technologies have resulted in the development of a large number of potentially powerful drugs,” said R. Kannan. “To maximize their affect and minimize side effects are becoming increasingly critical. We believe our novel drug-carrying nanodevice will offer solutions to treat a variety of diseases that currently are difficult to treat due to lack of technology that can reach the specific target the drug needs to hit,” Kannan added.

In addition to funding from the Wilson Foundation, the Kannan team is working towards developing nanodevices that will aid in diagnosis and drug therapy for maternal infections that can spread to the fetus.  “Often treatments for maternal infections can spread to the fetus,” said Gloria Heppner, associate vice president for Research and member of the Ralph Wilson Medical Research Foundation Scientific Advisory Committee. “Through the technology being developed by the Kannan team, there may soon be a more effective and safe treatment method for effectively treating the fetus for a variety of infections that are currently difficult to treat,” Heppner added.

“The kind of interdisciplinary research teams that are emerging at Wayne State will enable faster translation of nanotechnolgoy to the medical field and beyond,” commented Ralph Kummler, Ph.D., dean of WSU’s College of Engineering. “President Irvin Reid has been extremely committed to our nanoscience research developments through the President’s Research Enhancement Fund, and we’re beginning to see the fruits of this commitment pay off,” Kummler added.