Targeting the Extracellular Matrix in Traumatic Brain Injury Increases Signal Generation from an Activity-Based Nanosensor.

ABSTRACT: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a critical public health concern and major contributor to death and long-term disability. After the initial trauma, a sustained secondary injury involving a complex continuum of pathophysiology unfolds, ultimately leading to the destruction of nervous tissue. One disease hallmark of TBI is ectopic protease activity, which can mediate cell death, extracellular matrix breakdown, and inflammation. We previously engineered a fluorogenic activity-based nanosensor for TBI (TBI-ABN) that passively accumulates in the injured brain across the disrupted vasculature and generates fluorescent signal in response to calpain-1 cleavage, thus enabling in situ visualization of TBI-associated calpain-1 protease activity. In this work, we hypothesized that actively targ

SUBMITTER: Kandell RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8716428 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature