Hijacking apoptotic pathways of unregulated cell proliferation is an attractive and powerful therapeutic strategy. In the Hardy lab, we are interested in understanding the mechanisms and pathways of the various caspases, the executioners of apoptosis. To utilize the potential therapeutic roles of caspases, we have collaborated with the Thayumanavan lab and developed a nanogel platform for intracellular caspase delivery. As caspases are unable to penetrate the cell membrane on their own, targeted delivery of these caspase-nanogels provides a method for specific activation of apoptosis in a desired population. We are working towards probing the caspase-nanogel conjugate self-assembly process to elucidate the mechanisms of cellular uptake, release and potency.

 

 

Celia Homyak, Ann Fernandez, Mollie Touve, Bo Zhao, Francesca Anson, Jeanne Hardy, Richard Vachet, Nathan Gianneschi, Jennifer Ross, Sankran Thayumanavan (2017) “Lipogels for Encapsulation of Hydrophilic Proteins and Hydrophobic Small Molecules”Biomacromolecules.19(1):132-140. pdf

 

Kishore Raghupathi,Scott J. Eron, Francesca Anson, Jeanne A. Hardy, Sankaran Thayumanavan (2017) “Utilizing Inverse Emulsion Polymerization to Generate Responsive Nanogels for Cytosolic Protein Delivery.” Molecular Pharmaceutics. 14(12):4515-4524. pdf

 

Judy Ventura, Scott J Eron, Daniella C González-Toro, Kishore Raghupathi, Fei Wang, Jeanne A. Hardy, Sankaran Thayumanavan, (2015). “Reactive Self-Assembly of Polymers and Proteins to Reversibly Silence a Killer Protein.” Biomacromolecules. 16(10):3161-71. pdf

 

Chang Soo Kim, Rubul Mout, Yunlong Zhao, Yi-Cheun Yeh, Rui Tang, Youngdo Jeong, Bradley Duncan, Jeanne A. Hardy and Vincent M. Rotello, (2015). “Co-Delivery of Protein and Small Molecule Therapeutics Using Nanoparticle-Stabilized Nanocapsules.” Bioconjug Chem. 26 (5): 950–954. pdf

 

Rui Tang, David J. Solfiell, Subinoy Rana, Chang Soo Kim, Rubul Mout, Elih M. Velázquez-Delgado, Apiwat Chompoosor, Zheng-Jiang Zhu, Chaekyu Kim, Bo Yan, Youngdo Jeong, Jeanne A. Hardy and Vincent M. Rotello, (2013). “Direct Delivery of Functional Proteins and Enzymes to the Cytosol Using Nanoparticle-Stabilized Nanocapsules.” ACS Nano. 7 (8): 6667–6673. pdf