A University of Nebraska Medical Center cardiologist, Tom Porter, M.D., is working with an Arizona-based pharmaceutical company on a National Institutes of Health (NIH) project examining the affect of microbubbles and ultrasound on blood-brain barrier permeability.
Dr. Porter, a professor of internal medicine at UNMC, is the principal investigator on the project, and will work with ImaRx Therapeutics, Inc. of Tuscon on the $950,000 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a division of the NIH.
The funding comes from a Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) grant. STTR is a federally-funded program designed to stoke collaboration between private businesses and public institutions
The study is designed to examine changes in the permeability of the blood-brain barrier after being treated with microbubbles and ultrasound over a two-year period. This project will also explore whether certain drugs that cannot get across the blood brain barrier on their own, may be able to cross when delivered with the microbubbles.
“This project will provide the foundation for the noninvasive use of transcranial ultrasound and intravenous microbubbles to target drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier,” Dr. Porter said.
Although vital for normal brain function, blood-brain barrier impermeability presents a problem when treating malignant and degenerative disorders of the central nervous system, such as brain cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
Dr. Porter and ImaRx will evaluate whether microbubbles and transcranial ultrasound can safely enhance drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier. Work will begin on the grant this fall.
Dr. Porter recognized a number of UNMC researchers or clinicians who are assisting him on the study.Yuri Persidsky, M.D., Ph.D., professor, pathology & microbiology and pharmacology and experimental neuroscience, and William Thorell, M.D., assistant professor, neurosurgery, will serve as co-collaborators. Pierre Fayad, M.D., professor and chairman, neurological sciences, and Philip Bierman, M.D., associate professor, oncology-hematology, will serve as consultants. Janina Baranowska-Kortylewicz, Ph.D., professor, radiation oncology, and Thomas Jerrells, Ph.D., are consultants assisting with the analysis of the data. Michael Boska, Ph.D., professor, radiology, will assist with the brain MRI studies, examining how ultrasound and microbubbles alter blood brain barrier permeability.
“We are pleased to be working in conjunction with Dr. Porter, who is a leading authority in the development of treatments using microbubbles with ultrasound,” said Bradford Zakes, president and CEO of ImaRx Therapeutics, Inc. “We believe this research could both help identify new drug delivery product opportunities, as well as complement the knowledge we are gaining on the use of microbubbles and ultrasound to treat patients with acute ischemic stroke.”
ImaRx Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company that researches and develops therapies for stroke and other vascular disorders using its proprietary microbubble technology.
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