Subcutaneous nanotherapy repurposes the immunosuppressive mechanism of rapamycin to enhance allogeneic islet graft viability

Jacqueline A. Burke, Xiaomin Zhang, Sharan Bobbala, Molly A. Frey, Carolina Bohorquez Fuentes, Helena Freire Haddad, Sean D. Allen, Reese A.K. Richardson, Guillermo A. Ameer*, Evan A. Scott*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Standard oral rapamycin (that is, Rapamune) administration is plagued by poor bioavailability and broad biodistribution. Thus, this pleotropic mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor has a narrow therapeutic window and numerous side effects and provides inadequate protection to transplanted cells and tissues. Furthermore, the hydrophobicity of rapamycin limits its use in parenteral formulations. Here, we demonstrate that subcutaneous delivery via poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(propylene sulfide) polymersome nanocarriers significantly alters rapamycin’s cellular biodistribution to repurpose its mechanism of action for tolerance, instead of immunosuppression, and minimize side effects. While oral rapamycin inhibits T cell proliferation directly, subcutaneously administered rapamycin-loaded polymersomes modulate antigen presenting cells in lieu of T cells, significantly improving maintenance of normoglycemia in a clinically relevant, major histocompatibility complex-mismatched, allogeneic, intraportal (liver) islet transplantation model. These results demonstrate the ability of a rationally designed nanocarrier to re-engineer the immunosuppressive mechanism of a drug by controlling cellular biodistribution.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)319-330
Number of pages12
JournalNature nanotechnology
Volume17
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2022

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Bioengineering
  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Materials Science(all)
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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