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A biomimetic nanosponge that absorbs pore-forming toxins

Nature Nanotechnology volume 8, pages 336–340 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Detoxification treatments such as toxin-targeted anti-virulence therapy1,2 offer ways to cleanse the body of virulence factors that are caused by bacterial infections, venomous injuries and biological weaponry. Because existing detoxification platforms such as antisera3, monoclonal antibodies4, small-molecule inhibitors5,6 and molecularly imprinted polymers7 act by targeting the molecular structures of toxins, customized treatments are required for different diseases. Here, we show a biomimetic toxin nanosponge that functions as a toxin decoy in vivo. The nanosponge, which consists of a polymeric nanoparticle core surrounded by red blood cell membranes, absorbs membrane-damaging toxins and diverts them away from their cellular targets. In a mouse model, the nanosponges markedly reduce the toxicity of staphylococcal alpha-haemolysin (α-toxin) and thus improve the survival rate of toxin-challenged mice. This biologically inspired toxin nanosponge presents a detoxification treatment that can potentially treat a variety of injuries and diseases caused by pore-forming toxins.

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Figure 1: Schematic and actual structures.
Figure 2: In vitro characterizations.
Figure 3: In vivo toxin neutralization.
Figure 4: In vivo detoxification.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Science Foundation (grant no. DMR-1216461) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (award no. R01DK095168). B.L. is supported by a National Institutes of Health training grant (R25CA153915 ) from the National Cancer Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of NanoEngineering and Moores Cancer Centre, University of California, San Diego, California 92093, La Jolla, USA

    Che-Ming J. Hu, Ronnie H. Fang, Jonathan Copp, Brian T. Luk & Liangfang Zhang

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  1. Che-Ming J. Hu
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  2. Ronnie H. Fang
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Contributions

L.Z. conceived and designed the experiments with C-M.H., R.F. and J.C. C-M.H., R.F., J.C. and B.L. performed all the experiments. All authors analysed and discussed the data. L.Z., C-M.H. and R.F. wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Liangfang Zhang.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Hu, CM., Fang, R., Copp, J. et al. A biomimetic nanosponge that absorbs pore-forming toxins. Nature Nanotech 8, 336–340 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2013.54

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