Atherosclerosis continues to be one of the leading causes of death in the United States despite numerous advances in treatment and prevention. Amongst these treatments, there is growing interest in the early identification and treatment of vulnerable plaques, which is a plaque that is at high risk of disruption followed by thrombosis. However, there is no accepted method for the early detection of such plaques. Recently, we developed a synthetic high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-mimicking nanoparticle (NP)1 that demonstrates excellent biocompatibility, serum stability, physicochemical and non-immunogenic properties, and has the ability to sense apoptotic macrophages which can be used in imaging vulnerable plaques. These NPs show potential in rerouting cholesterol away from plaque macrophages to help prevent or slow the progression of vulnerable plaques. Here we present further optimization in order to better mimic of natural HDL. In vitro cholesterol binding and efflux of cholesterol from macrophage derived foam cells will be discussed. 1. Marrache, S. and Dhar, S. 'Biodegradable synthetic high-density lipoprotein nanoparticles for atherosclerosis, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2013 , 110, 9445-9450.

Synthetic high-density lipoprotein mimic for treatment of atherosclerosis

247th National Meeting (2014)

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