Innovation and Impact.

Our dual theranostic microplatforms can (i) afford fluorescent imaging and quadruple whammy against targeted retina (anti-VEGF, chemotherapy, PDT and PTT), (ii) reach retina pigmented epithelial cells, and (iii) take advantage of the VEGFR2 homing peptide as molecular target for enhancing intracellular uptake. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a sever ocular complication that causes human visual impairment and even worse blinding, is on the rise wordlwide. The number of people affected by this disease could rise to 288 million till 2040 ^[1]. It is one of the few eye diseases of which progression has been trying to be prevented by using anti-VEGF therapy alone or in combination with PDT, therefore can greatly benefit from this novel theranostic microplatforms for multi-modal therapies.

Public Health Relevance

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness in the elderly, but current therapies rely on anti-VEGF intraocular injections alone or either in combination with photodynamic therapy (PDT) or with laser surgery and can not lead to a complet healing, therefore AMD condition progress. This research seeks to develop and test a theranostic microplatform that can be given as intraocular injection, targeted to specific cell types in the eye, and triggered to release the drug using a non-invasive external light source. This highly-specific and observable drug delivery platform will have important translational potential for the treatment of AMD and other retinal diseases.