IJUP08 - Universidade do Porto

Intracellular Gene Regulation via Engineered Nanolipoblockers
for Inhibition of Cholesterol Uptake
Ekta Patel, Prabhas Moghe
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Department, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey
Atherosclerosis, the pathogenic accumulation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) within the blood vessel walls,
is a leading cause of death worldwide. While systemic therapies inhibit LDL synthesis, our approach
involves the localized management of oxidized LDL within the vascular wall through the use of anionic
nanolipoblockers (NLBs) and macrophage-targeted drugs. We have shown that NLBs reduce foam cell
formation by receptor blocking, a hallmark of atherogenesis; however, their effect on cellular gene
expression is unclear. We investigated the effects of NLBs on genes regulating atherogenesis and
inflammation, with the goal of identifying the most antiatherogenic NLB configurations.
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