Breakthrough in Platelet Engineering Opens Door to Targeted Drug Delivery.

In a significant advancement for biomedical engineering, scientists from The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a new method to chemically label platelets, offering fresh potential for targeted drug delivery. Their findings, recently published in Materials Today Bio, represent the first successful demonstration of metabolic labeling in platelets.

Platelets, which are anucleate cell fragments responsible for blood clotting at injury and inflammation sites, are naturally suited for drug delivery due to their mobility and biological roles. However, engineering these cells has proven difficult because of their small size and lack of a nucleus, which prevents the use of conventional genetic engineering techniques.

“Unlike most cells, platelets can’t be genetically modified due to the absence of nuclear DNA,” explained Assistant Professor Hua Wang, senior author of the study from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. “This makes traditional methods of cellular engineering ineffective.”

To overcome this, Wang’s team turned to a chemical strategy known as metabolic glycan labeling. This method introduces modified sugar molecules into cells, which are then metabolized and incorporated into the cell surface, allowing researchers to attach tracking or therapeutic agents via chemical tags.

Previously, Wang’s lab had successfully used this labeling technique on rapidly dividing cells such as immune and cancer cells. The challenge was whether this process could work on non-dividing cells like platelets. Encouraged by this question, the researchers tested the approach in both laboratory and animal models.

In laboratory tests, mouse platelets were isolated and incubated with modified sugars, resulting in detectable tags on their surfaces within hours. These results were confirmed using flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy, and western blotting. The team then repeated the experiment in living mice, with similar success.

This achievement lays the groundwork for using tagged platelets as delivery vehicles for therapies targeting cancer, immune system diseases, and coagulation disorders. The transient nature of platelets—typically cleared from the body within days—could help minimize long-term drug retention and associated side effects.

Moving forward, the research team plans to collaborate with external partners to explore more stable and efficient cargo-loading techniques for platelets. “We’re optimistic about improving the effectiveness of metabolic labeling both inside and outside the body,” said Wang, “and believe it holds great promise for broader medical applications.

Source:https://phys.org/news/2025-05-metabolic-platelets-possibilities-drug-delivery.html

This is non-financial/medical advice and made using AI so could be wrong.