Groundbreaking nanotechnology treats osteoporosis without side effects

Researchers have created a unique osteoporosis treatment technology that uses nanobubbles to deliver treatment to targeted areas of the human body. (CREDIT: Creative Commons)

Researchers at the University of Central Florida have created a unique osteoporosis treatment technology that uses nanobubbles to deliver treatment to targeted areas of the human body.

The invention uses ultrasound-sensitive nanobubbles to deliver treatment to targeted areas of the human body, avoiding the side effects associated with traditional osteoporosis treatments such as osteonecrosis (delayed healing of the jawbone) and gastrointestinal problems.

The new technology was developed by Mehdi Razavi, Associate Professor at the UCF College of Medicine and a member of the Biionix Cluster at UCF, and UCF Biomedical Science student Angela Shar from the Biomaterials and Nanomedicine Lab as part of the Lab’s instrument development work. for diagnosis and therapy.

Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by an imbalance between the body’s ability to form new bone, or ossification, and break down or remove old bone, known as resorption.

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According to the Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation (BHOF), studies show that one in two women and one in four men aged 50 and over break a bone due to osteoporosis. In addition, experts predict that by 2025, osteoporosis will cause about 3 million fractures and an annual cost of $25.3 billion.

Razavi says that a healthy body is constantly replacing old or damaged bone tissue at a constant rate to ensure good bone quality and mass.

“But when the rate of bone resorption becomes higher than the rate of bone formation, it leads to osteoporosis, a systemic disease of the skeletal system,” he says.

Many modern treatments for osteoporosis use drugs such as bisphosphonates to inhibit bone resorption. Side effects may include osteonecrosis of the jaw (delayed healing of the jaw bone) and gastrointestinal problems.

The UCF invention, however, uses ultrasonic-sensitive nanobubbles to target areas of the human body.

“There are many nanoplatforms for the treatment of osteoporosis,” says Razavi. “But the advantage of ultrasound-sensitive nanobubbles is that they require ultrasound to break the bubbles and deliver genes. Ultrasound itself can promote bone formation.”

A viable and safe alternative, UCF’s invention treats and prevents the effects of osteoporosis.

“It’s a dual action technology,” says Razavi. “On the one hand, you reduce bone resorption, and on the other hand, you increase bone formation with ultrasound.”

In one application, the nanobubbles carry an osteoporosis-associated silencing or knockdown gene, cathepsin K small interfering ribonucleic acid (CTSK siRNA).

Razavi says the nanobubbles protect the siRNA from direct interaction with the environment and target osteoclast cells, which are bone cells that carry the CTSK gene. CTSK plays a key role in the process of bone resorption.

“So we suppress, decrease the high expression of those [bone resorption] genes with miRNAs,” he says.

He added that the delivery system also helps slow the release of the drug and prolong the effectiveness of the gene-silencing mechanism.

Each nanobubble contains processing in a gas core and a liquid perfluorocarbon shell.

“The gas core helps us visualize and track nanobubbles,” says Razavi. “It also contains molecules that can affect bone.”

“The bubbles get into bone cells, look for and find those genes that cause osteoporosis, and bury CTSK siRNA, which then creates a complex,” he says. “This complex is thermodynamically unstable, and this will lead to a kind of suppression or shutdown of these genes. When you measure cathepsin K expression, you get lower expression.”

For controlled, sequential release and customized treatment (eg, low intensity for superficial fractures versus high intensity for deep lesions), ultrasound parameters can be modified, including exposure time, intensity, frequency, and waveform.

Razavi gave other options for using the invention.

“You can use this for cancer treatment and other applications such as neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s,” he says.

One of the advantages of nanobubbles over microbubbles is their ability to pass through the cell membrane to deliver therapeutic agents.

“Ultrasound can actually open up the blood-brain barrier to facilitate the migration of nanobubbles into nerve cells for gene delivery,” he says.

Chemotherapy drugs can be encapsulated in vesicles and then injected into tumors. Also, because these bubbles have a gas core, they can deliver oxygen.

Microscopic image of nanobubbles after sonication using the UCF invention. (CREDIT: UKF)

“One of the solutions here is to deliver oxygen to the tissues to facilitate regeneration,” he says. “We are trying to find approaches that can be used around the world that are non-invasive, widely available, portable and inexpensive.”

The technology is available for license. For more information on the invention, see the UCF nanobubble technology sheet.

Publications

New ultrasonic gene delivery system based on nanodroplets for the treatment of osteoporosis, Nanomedicine.

For more science news, visit our New Discoveries section at The bright side of the news.

Note: Materials provided above by the University of Central Florida. Content can be edited for style and length.

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