(62be) Polycatechin Nanoparticles: a Novel Reactive Oxygen Species Scavenging Drug Delivery Vehicle

Cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, and hydroxyradical play a key role in the progression of inflammatory disease. In healthy cells, biological mechanisms maintain equilibrium between the concentration of ROS and the concentration of antioxidant molecules and enzymes that reduce them to a less destructive form, but in the progression of many diseases this balance is disrupted and an excess of ROS are produced within the cell. The objective of this project was to design a ROS scavenging nanoparticle drug delivery system that makes use of excessive ROS production in inflamed tissue as a targeting signal for the delivery of a therapeutic and that can simultaneously act as therapeutic by reducing cellular ROS levels. In order to carry out this task, we have developed a family of nanoparticles formulated from ROS-scavenging catechin polymers. In this presentation, we demonstrate the formulation of polycatechin into a nanoparticle, characterize the superoxide dismutase equivalent activity of polycatechin nanoparticles, and confirm in cell culture the ROS-scavenging ability and ROS mediated drug release.