- Rutgers University researchers has employed artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to formulate therapeutic proteins to successfully stabilize an enzyme that is able to degrade scar tissue resulting from spinal cord injuries and promote tissue regeneration
A team led by Rutgers University researchers has employed artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to formulate therapeutic proteins to successfully stabilize an enzyme that is able to degrade scar tissue resulting from spinal cord injuries and promote tissue regeneration. This study – recently published in Advanced Healthcare Materials – details the team’s stabilization of the enzyme Chondroitinase ABC, (ChABC), which offers new hope for patients coping with spinal cord injuries.
Adam Gormley, the project’s principal investigator and an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Rutgers School of Engineering (SOE) at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, was partially motivated to oversee the research due to a personal connection to spinal cord injury (see quotes below).
Shashank Kosuri, a biomedical engineering doctoral student at Rutgers SOE and a lead author of the study, pointed out that spinal cord injuries (SCIs) can negatively impact the physical, psychological, and socio-economic well-being of patients and their families. And soon after an SCI, a secondary cascade of inflammation produces a dense scar tissue that can inhibit or prevent nervous tissue regeneration.
The enzyme successfully stabilized in the study (ChABC) is known to degrade scar tissue molecules and promote tissue regeneration, yet it is highly unstable at the human body temperature of 98.6° F. and loses all activity within a few hours. And Kosuri pointed out that this necessitates multiple and expensive infusions at very high doses to maintain therapeutic efficacy.
Synthetic copolymers can wrap around enzymes like ChABC and stabilize them in hostile microenvironments. And in order to stabilize the enzyme, the researchers utilized an AI-driven approach with liquid handling robotics to synthesize and test the ability of numerous copolymers to stabilize ChABC and maintain its activity at 98.6° F.
While researchers were able to identify several copolymers that performed well, Kosuri reported that one copolymer combination even continued to retain 30% of the enzyme for up to one week, a promising result for patients seeking care for spinal cord injuries.
This study received support from grants funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and The New Jersey Commission on Spinal Cord research. And in addition to Gormley and Kosuri, the Rutgers research team also included SOE Professor Li Cai and Distinguished Professor Martin Yarmush, as well as several SOE-affiliated students. Faculty and students from Princeton University’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering also collaborated on the project.
KEY QUOTES:
“I’ll never forget being at the hospital and learning a close college friend would likely never walk again after being paralyzed from the waist down after a mountain biking accident,” Gormley recalled. “The therapy we are developing may someday help people such as my friend lessen the scar on their spinal cords and regain function. This is a great reason to wake up in the morning and fight to further the science and potential therapy.”
“This study represents one of the first times artificial intelligence and robotics have been used to formulate highly sensitive therapeutic proteins and extend their activity by such a large amount. It’s a major scientific achievement.”
— Adam Gormley, the project’s principal investigator and an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Rutgers School of Engineering (SOE) at Rutgers University-New Brunswick
