The UB researchers working on a Nanomedicine for Drug Addiction new nanotechnology treatment for drug addiction are, clockwise WORKING TO SILENCE A GENE THAT TRIGGERS ADDICTIVE BEHAVIORS from front left, Hong Ding, PhD; Indrajit Roy, PhD; Rajiv Kumar, PhD; Earl J. Bergey, PhD; Ken-Tye-Yong, PhD; Adela C. Boniou, PhD; Stanley A. Schwartz, MD, PhD; Supriya D. Mahajan, PhD; Paras N. Prasad, PhD; and Rui Hu. All are active par- A potentially new nanotechnology treatment for drug addiction was described ticipants in the strategic strength by UB clinical and basic scientists in a paper published online in the Proceedings of the National in Integrated Nanostructured Systems identified in the UB 2020 Academy of Sciences (PNAS) the week of March 23. planning process, which brings Their work describes a stable nanoparticle that can deliver specialized ribonucleic acid (RNA) together researchers in the life molecules, known as short-interfering RNA, or siRNA, in the brain to “silence” or turn off a gene sciences, medicine and engineer- ing to promote interdisciplinary that plays a critical role in many kinds of drug addiction. advancements. PHOTO BY DOUGLAS LEVERE By Ellen Goldbaum

HESE FINDINGS mean that in the to study their use in treating AIDS have spent years developing specialized be reduced,” says Adela C. Boniou, In addition to their biocompat- The nanorods delivered 40 percent future we might be able to add a dementia, prostate cancer and asthma. nanotechnologies as highly custom- PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at the ibility, the gold nanorods developed of the silencing RNA molecules across powerful pharmaceutical agent “The findings of this study tell us that ized delivery vehicles for pharma- Institute for Lasers, Photonics and by the UB researchers are advanta- the blood-brain barrier model, signifi- “Tto the current arsenal of weapons these nanoparticles are both a safe and ceuticals, while the researchers in the Biophotonics in the UB Department geous because they are rod-shaped cantly higher than the amounts that in order to more effectively fight a very efficient way of delivering highly Division of Allergy, Immunology and of Chemistry in the UB College of rather than spherical, thus allowing have previously been achieved in other whole range of substance addictions,” sophisticated new drugs that turn off Rheumatology have developed an Arts and Sciences, and a coauthor. for more siRNA molecules to be experiments. says Paras N. Prasad, PhD, executive abnormal genes to a variety of tissues,” expertise in specific aspects of HIV- The drawback has been in finding a loaded onto their surface. This In the next stage of the research, director of the UB Institute for Lasers, says Stanley A. Schwartz, MD, PhD, AIDS, drug addiction and complica- way to safely and efficiently deliver the further increases their stability the UB scientists will conduct similar Photonics and Biophotonics and director of the Division of Allergy, tions that can occur in AIDS patients siRNA, which is not stable by itself. and allows for better penetration experiments in vivo; both groups say SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Immunology and Rheumatology in the who also are drug abusers. They also The UB researchers were successful into cells. they are pleased with the collaboration Department of Chemistry, who led UB Department of Medicine, who is a have validated a blood-brain barrier when they combined the siRNA mol- “We have demonstrated that and that they expect the partnership to the UB team. coauthor on the study. model that played an important role in ecules with gold nanoparticles shaped we can use these gold nanorods to to flourish. The new approach developed by Schwartz says that the study’s suc- the research described in PNAS. like rods, called nanorods. the UB researchers also may be appli- cess underscores how collaborations The PNAS paper describes the This may be the first time that The findings of this study tell us that these nanoparticles are both cable to treating Parkinson’s disease, among researchers in the physical and development of an innovative way silencing RNA molecules have been brain cancer and a range of other clinical sciences can lead to valuable to silence DARPP-32, a brain protein used with gold nanorods. a safe and very efficient way of delivering highly sophisticated neurologic and psychiatric disorders, translational findings. understood to be a central “trigger” for “What is unique here is that we new drugs that turn off abnormal genes to a variety of tissues. which require certain drugs to be “This study shows how you can the cascade of signals that occurs in have applied nanotechnology to —STANLEY A. SCHWARTZ, MD, PHD delivered to the brain. take very solid and important, high- drug addiction. therapeutic concepts directed at silenc- stabilize the SiRNA molecules, deliver At the same time, the study’s tech findings in the physical sciences— Silencing of the DARPP-32 gene ing a gene in the brain using RNA them across the blood-brain bar- For example, in their studies of AIDS coauthors in the UB Department of for example, chemistry—and utilize with siRNA can inhibit production of techniques,” says Supriya D. Mahajan, rier and silence the target gene,” says patients, the researchers in the School of Medicine say this highly translational those technologies for the eventual this protein and thus could help pre- PhD, research assistant professor in the Indrajit Roy, PhD, deputy director for Medicine and Biomedical Sciences have research strongly suggests that the treatment of patients,” he observes. vent drug addiction. Department of Medicine in the School biophotonics at the institute. “The been particularly interested in the phe- nanoparticles would be applicable to Researchers at the Institute for “When you silence this gene, the of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, nanorods nicely address all three of nomena of AIDS dementia, where the other diseases. They will soon begin Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics physical craving for the drug should and coauthor. these requirements.” disease crosses the blood-brain barrier.

1 6 Buffalo Physician Summer 2009 Summer 2009 Buffalo Physician 1 7 N THE PNAS PAPER, much of what has given them a promising new “In fact, the brain is one of the hardest “It may be possible to target the and vice versa and we are all under- port specialist and Hong Ding, PhD, we are suggesting could work for avenue to study. organs to target,” he says. “Now that we biomarkers of specific addictions or standing each other.” Ken-Tye Yong, PhD, Rajiv Kumar, addictive behaviors can be directly “We think that by using this nano- know it is possible to do that, it opens compulsive behaviors with similar The researchers are active par- PhD, all postdoctoral associates in “Itranslated to some of the more severe particle technology, we might be able the possibility that we can consider technologies,” he explains. ticipants in the strategic strength in the Institute for Lasers, Photonics aspects of AIDS dementia,” says to bring antiviral drugs into the brain,” doing this for a whole range of tissues. “This research has reinforced our Integrated Nanostructured Systems and Biophotonics. Schwartz. he explains. Currently we are planning to look at sense of how valuable are our inter- identified in the UB 2020 plan- Funding for this research was pro- He adds that AIDS dementia is In addition, Schwartz reports that targeting prostate cancer and asthma.” actions with basic physical scientists ning process, which brings together vided by the National Cancer Institute, usually irreversible and fatal but that his group is looking at a range of other Prasad notes that the team also is like Dr. Prasad and his group,” says researchers in the life sciences, medi- the Kaleida Health Foundation, the the collaboration with Prasad’s group diseases that could be similarly targeted. studying how to combine other kinds Schwartz. cine and engineering to promote inter- John R. Oishei Foundation, the Air of silencing RNA technologies with “The partnership between the disciplinary advancements. Force Office of Scientific Research The partnership between the Institute for Lasers, Photonics nanoparticles to potentially turn off Institute and the Department of Additional coauthors on the and UB’s New York State Center of the genes involved in a range of diseas- Medicine is the basis of translational paper are Earl J. Bergey, PhD, Excellence in Bioinformatics and and Biophotonics and the Department of Medicine is the basis es and addictive behaviors, including medicine,” Mahajan concurs. “The research associate professor in chem- Life Sciences. BP of translational medicine. The biologists are talking to the gambling and obesity. biologists are talking to the chemists istry; Rui Hu, senior research sup- chemists and vice versa and we are all understanding each other. —SUPRIYA D. MAHAJAN, PHD

Hockey, Continued from Page 15 the teams customize the standards to the unique circumstances the NFL, consider that the official team physician is in effect incredibly rare? Was Richard Zednik’s injury the equivalent of their own arenas. In one city, an ambulance that had to cross the official team worrier. It’s evident that Bisson’s concern for of being hit by lightning? I don’t know if we’d have to make gets some throat injury is very, very small for him personally, railroad tracks was stuck waiting for a train to pass, calling for his players’ welfare extends on and off the playing field. everybody wear neck guards for that. On the other hand, it may not be worth it just for the headaches he’ll get from the development of an alternate route to the nearest hospital. “I’m watching the game differently than you are,” he says. maybe it’s happening more often than we think and we’re just opponents, because they do get chirped at.” “We have a team meeting at the beginning of every sea- “I’m stressing out. I don’t want anybody to get hurt. I’m lucky that it hasn’t been deep enough to kill somebody.” Another potential objection to neck guards is that they son,” says Bisson. “I call together our training staff and the ready to have to run onto the field at any second and deal Although Zednik missed the Zednik might deflect skate blades to other vulnerable regions of the other medical doctors and our security personnel and the with somebody who’s paralyzed. I watch the play, and then I rest of the 2007–08 season, he had head and neck area and cause even more serious injuries, but ambulance drivers and everybody else, and we work through really watch the end of the play, and I’m looking at this tangle a great year with the Panthers in again, there is no good evidence yet. the scenarios that could possibly happen, the ones that could of bodies to make sure that I see everybody stand up. We’re 2008–09. Like the rest of the play- be life-threatening. A guy gets hit in the chest and his heart watching a different game.” ers in the league, he hasn’t been EMERGENCY RESPONSE GUIDELINES stops. What would you do? He gets hit in the throat. What Bisson reports that the neck laceration research project is wearing a neck guard. BP After the Zednik incident, Bisson participated in efforts do you do? A major airway, a major laceration, eye injuries, about three-quarters of the way complete. A case report on Patrick Klinck is a freelance writer to develop a set of emergency preparedness guidelines that you can imagine all sorts of crazy things, so we try to focus Zednik’s injury coauthored with McCormack, the attend- MARK MULVILLE/THE BUFFALO NEWS based in Buffalo. He was at HSBC were recently adopted by the NHL. on the ones that would be most likely among those extreme- ing emergency room physician at BGH, and Noor, Zednik’s Arena the night Richard Zednik Each year, members of the Team Physicians Society ly rare injuries to occur and we say, ‘Let’s figure out if there’s surgeon, is pending publication in the American Journal of was injured. convene in the city where the NHL All-Star Game is held to any little barriers that could interfere with us getting treat- Sports Medicine. conduct a hockey trauma course for all the team doctors. ment for this person,’ and we’ve established protocols that “If there were compelling data that came out of this “I gave a talk on vascular injuries at our team physicians’ way, as have all the teams in the NHL.” study,” Bisson says, “plus some other studies that indicate it’s meeting in January of this year because I’ve become sort The key to effective emergency response, Bisson says, is really obvious people should of an expert on it now, if there is such a thing as a major- anticipation. When you know what to expect and everyone be wearing a neck guard, that’s vascular-injury-in-an-NHL-rink expert. I’ve dealt with one knows in advance what they are supposed to do, you get how the decision should be of them so I’ve seen as many as anybody. They wanted to the kind of results that save lives. made. I don’t expect this one know what worked and what we are going to do to improve study to answer that ques- “I’m watching the game differently than you are. I’m things next time.” NOT ALL FUN AND GAMES tion. I think it’s a first step stressing out. I don’t want anybody to get hurt. I’m ready The Team Physicians Society sets standard protocols for all While it might seem fun to have access to all the rink-side toward deciding how much teams to follow in the event of various emergencies, based on and sideline excitement surrounding two professional sports we should worry about neck to have to run onto the field at any second and deal with the collective experiences and expertise of its members. Then teams, hobnobbing with the elite players of the NHL and lacerations happening. Is it somebody who’s paralyzed.” —Leslie Bisson, MD

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