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Nanoparticle and Drug Spreading on Mucus-Like Gels by Jennifer Fiegel
Fiegel, Jennifer
Faculty/Staff/Researcher
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Center for Computer Aided Design
Pharmaceutical Engineering
2015
2020 submissions
Central Microscopy Research Facility, Iowa City, IA
My lab does research to improve drug treatment for lung diseases such as asthma and lung infections. We are currently trying to better understand what happens to therapeutic aerosols when they are delivered to the lungs. We know that when drug-containing aerosols deposit in the lungs, they need to spread and distribute the drug so that areas in most need of therapy receive it. But this can be difficult to achieve, particularly in people who have significant lung disease. In this project, we are using surfactants to increase the distribution of drugs and drug-containing particles in the lungs through a process called Marangoni spreading (surface tension-driven flow). This image shows how the addition of surfactant significantly increases the spreading of nanoparticle-containing droplets (top) and model drug-containing droplets (bottom) on the surface of mucus-like fluids (fluids similar to those that coats your upper lungs). The finger-like projections that protrude from the edge of the droplets occur when conditions are right - when a) higher concentrations of surfactant are added to the droplets, b) when the mucus is less viscoelastic (less thick and sticky, and less stretchy), and c) when there is no surfactant already on the fluid surface (in your lungs, however, there is some surfactant on the mucus surface). By studying this process, we can learn how to tune the spreading of molecules and particles in the lungs to achieve better drug therapy.
Daniel Schenck, PhD
1st place in the 2020 Faculty/Staff/Researchers Category
lung drug delivery surfacant
Capture Your Research
University of Iowa. Lichtenberger Engineering Library University of Iowa. College of Engineering. NEXUS Program Virgil M. Hancher Auditorium
Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 (CC BY-NC 2.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/
Contact Kari Kozak in the Litchenberger Engineering Library at the University of Iowa: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/eng/contact/
Nanoparticle and Drug Spreading on Mucus-Like Gels (Vertical).jpg
Still Image
scientific illustrations (images)
