Associate Professor Duquesne University Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are natural carriers of cellular cargo and are being engineered as carriers for drug delivery. My talk will present our work on delivering mitochondria-containing EVs to the blood-brain barrier as a novel approach to treat stroke and other diseases where mitochondrial dysfunction plays a causal role. We, for the first time, have demonstrated that delivery of EV mitochondria improves mitochondrial function and post-stroke outcomes in cellular and mouse models of ischemic stroke.
Learning Objectives:
understand the potential of extracellular vesicles to deliver organelles like mitochondria
understand how targeting mitochondria delivery to the blood-brain barrier is a novel approach for treating brain diseases
understand the nuances in developing extracellular vesicle mitochondria as a novel class of biologic drugs
.jpg "Devika S Manickam, PhD (she/her/hers) photo")