Biodistribution of the cationic host defense peptide LL-37 using SPECT/CT.

Human cathelicidin LL-37, a cationic host defense peptide (CHDP), has several important physiological roles, including antimicrobial activity, immune modulation, and wound healing, and is a being investigated as a therapeutic candidate for several indications. While the effects of endogenously produced LL-37 are well studied, the biodistribution of exogenously administered LL-37 are less known. Here we assess the biodistribution of a gallium-67 labeled variant of LL-37 using nuclear imaging techniques over a 48 h period in healthy mice.

Biodistribution of Native and Nanoformulated Innate Defense Regulator Peptide 1002.

Innate defense regulator-1002 (IDR-1002) is a synthetic peptide with promising immunomodulatory and antibiofilm properties. An appreciable body of work exists around its mechanism of action at the cellular and molecular level, along with its efficacy across several infection and inflammation models. However, little is known about its absorption, distribution, and excretion in live organisms.

Toward Predicting Nanoparticle Distribution in Heterogeneous Tumor Tissues.

Nanobio interaction studies have generated a significant amount of data. An important next step is to organize the data and design computational techniques to analyze the nanobio interactions. Here we developed a computational technique to correlate the nanoparticle spatial distribution within heterogeneous solid tumors.

Biodistribution and toxicity of innate defense regulator 1018 (IDR-1018).

Innate defense regulators (IDRs) are synthetic host-defense peptides (HDPs) with broad-spectrum anti-infective properties, including immunomodulatory, anti-biofilm and direct antimicrobial activities. A lack of pharmacokinetic data about these peptides hinders their development and makes it challenging to fully understand how they work in vivo since their mechanism of action is dependent on tissue concentrations of the peptide. Here, we set out to define in detail the pharmacokinetics of a well-characterized IDR molecule, IDR-1018.

SPECT/CT Imaging of Ag for the Preclinical Evaluation of Silver-Based Antimicrobial Nanomedicines.

With the growing interest in developing silver-based antimicrobials, there is a need to better understand the behavior of silver within biological systems. To address this, we showed that single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is a suitable method to noninvasively image Ag-labeled compounds in mice. Formed by neutron irradiation of palladium foil, Ag can be rapidly isolated with a high degree of purity and stably incorporated into antimicrobial silver nanoparticles.