Jordan J. Green, Ph.D.

Microparticles that carry a cocktail of tolerance-inducing immune molecules dramatically reversed disease symptoms in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study published June 2 in Science Advances.

MS and other autoimmune diseases “are generally treated with a hammer, knocking out segments of the immune system quite broadly,” noted corresponding author Jordan Green, PhD, professor of biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University. “But ideally what we’d like to do is use a scalpel, affecting just the immune cells that are causing the problem, and to stop that interaction. That’s what we set out to do… Continue reading.

While there is no cure for the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis (MS), the results of a new study by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have pointed to the therapeutic potential of a promising approach that can reverse—and in many cases, completely alleviate—MS-like symptoms in mice. The strategy, tested in a mouse model of MS, harnesses biodegradeable microparticles (MPs) loaded with the immunosuppressant drug rapamycin, and functionalized with immune-modulating molecules, to create tolerogenic MPs (Tol-MPs) that support the expansion of regulatory T cells (Tregs).

“We developed a method for ‘tipping the balance’ of the T cells reaching the central nervous system from effectors to regulatory T cells, or Tregs, that modulate the immune system and have been shown to prevent autoimmune reactions,” said Giorgio Raimondi, PhD, associate director of the Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation Research Laboratory and assistant professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Raimondi is co-senior author of the team’s published paper in Science Advances, which is titled “Bioengineered particles expand myelin-specific regulatory T cells and reverse autoreactivity in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis… Continue reading.

Abstract

If the 20th century was the age of mapping and controlling the external world, the 21st century is the biomedical age of mapping and controlling the biological internal world. The biomedical age is bringing new technological breakthroughs for sensing and controlling human biomolecules, cells, tissues, and organs, which underpin new frontiers in the biomedical discovery, data, biomanufacturing, and translational sciences. This article reviews what we believe will be the next wave of biomedical engineering (BME) education in support of the biomedical age, what we have termed BME 2.0. BME 2.0 was announced on October 12 2017 at BMES 49 (https://www.bme.jhu.edu/news-events/news/miller-opens-2017-bmes-annual-meeting-with-vision-for-new-bme-era/). We present several principles upon which we believe the BME 2.0 curriculum should be constructed, and from these principles, we describe what view as the foundations that form the next generations of curricula in support of the BME enterprise. The core principles of BME 2.0 education are (a) educate students bilingually, from day 1, in the languages of modern molecular biology and the analytical modeling of complex biological systems; (b) prepare every student to be a biomedical data scientist; (c) build a unique BME community for discovery and innovation via a vertically integrated and convergent learning environment spanning the university and hospital systems; (d) champion an educational culture of inclusive excellence; and (e) codify in the curriculum ongoing discoveries at the frontiers of the discipline, thus ensuring BME 2.0 as a launchpad for training the future leaders of the biotechnology marketplaces. We envision that the BME 2.0 education is the path for providing every student with the training to lead in this new era of engineering the future of medicine in the 21st century… Continue reading.

Nanoparticles have been used to deliver gene therapy to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in mice and rats.

As reported in ScienceDaily, the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) investigators used a uniquely engineered large molecule that facilitated compaction of large bundles of therapeutic DNA to be delivered into the ocular cells.

This approach does not depend on viral vectors, as many of the gene therapies do, to transport the needed material into the cells.

The downside of viral vectors is that an immune response is produced, and dosing cannot be repeated. In addition, the one used most often for ocular gene therapy cannot carry large genes, the investigators pointed out… Continue reading.

Using an exclusively designed large molecule, the researchers could compact huge bundles of therapeutic DNA to be delivered into the cells of the eye.

Reported in the Science Advances journal on July 3rd, 2020, the study offers evidence of the prospective value of nanoparticle-delivered gene therapy for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration.

Macular degeneration is an eye disease in which blood vessel growth is abnormal, causing damage to the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye, together with rarer, inherited blinding diseases of the retina… Continue reading.

If you dispatch a suicide gene, you want to make sure that it bypasses healthy cells on its way to harmful cells, such as cancer cells. What’s more, you want to make sure that the suicide gene is sent via a delivery system that treads lightly—especially if the suicide gene is meant to treat pediatric patients, who have relatively fragile immune systems. Unfortunately, pediatric patients may have difficulty tolerating the most common gene delivery systems, which are derived from viruses.

To build a targetable and relatively innocuous delivery system, scientists based at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine turned to nanotechnology. Basically, they developed a library of poly(beta-amino ester) nanoparticles, or PBAEs. These tiny delivery vehicles consist of biodegradable, cationic polymers, and they self-assemble with nucleic acids… Continue reading.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the pending induction of Jordan J. Green, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, to its College of Fellows. Dr. Green was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows For outstanding contributions to bioengineering including innovations in nanobiotechnology, biomimetic materials, and cellular engineering.