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Updated: Apr 24, 2026
Synthesis of Immunotargeted Magneto-plasmonic Nanoclusters
Published on: August 22, 2014
Magnetic antibody-linked nanomatchmakers for therapeutic cell targeting
Ke Cheng1, Deliang Shen2, M Taylor Hensley3
11] Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, 8700 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90048, USA [2] Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, Center for Comparative Medicine and Translational Research, College of Veterinary Medicine, 1060 William Moore Drive, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27607, USA [3] Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27607, USA.
Abstract:
Stem cell transplantation is a promising strategy for therapeutic cardiac regeneration, but current therapies are limited by inefficient interaction between potentially beneficial cells (either exogenously transplanted or endogenously recruited) and the injured tissue. Here we apply targeted nanomedicine to achieve in vivo cell-mediated tissue repair, imaging and localized enrichment without cellular transplantation. Iron nanoparticles are conjugated with two types of antibodies (one against antigens on therapeutic cells and the other directed at injured cells) to produce magnetic bifunctional cell engager (MagBICE). The antibodies link the therapeutic cells to the injured cells, whereas the iron core of MagBICE enables physical enrichment and imaging. We treat acute myocardial infarction by targeting exogenous bone marrow-derived stem cells (expressing CD45) or endogenous CD34-positive cells to injured cardiomyocytes (expressing myosin light chain. Targeting can be further enhanced by magnetic attraction, leading to augmented functional benefits. MagBICE represents a generalizable platform technology for regenerative medicine.
