Marginated Neutrophils in the Lungs Effectively Compete for Nanoparticles Targeted to the Endothelium, Serving as a Part of the Reticuloendothelial System
Zamora ME, Essien EO, Bhamidipati K, Murthy A, Liu J, Kim H, Patel MN, Nong J, Wang Z, Espy C, Chaudhry FN, Ferguson LT, Tiwari S, Hood ED, Marcos-Contreras OA, Omo-Lamai S, Shuvaeva T, Arguiri E, Wu J, Rauova L, Poncz M, Basil MC, Cantu E, Planer JD, Spiller K, Zepp J, Muzykantov VR, Myerson JW, Brenner JS. Marginated Neutrophils in the Lungs Effectively Compete for Nanoparticles Targeted to the Endothelium, Serving as a Part of the Reticuloendothelial System. ACS Nano. 2024 Aug 20;18(33):22275-22297. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.4c06286. Epub 2024 Aug 6. PMID: 39105696.
Abstract
Nanomedicine has long pursued the goal of targeted delivery to specific organs and cell types but has yet to achieve this goal with the vast majority of targets. One rare example of success in this pursuit has been the 25+ years of studies targeting the lung endothelium using nanoparticles conjugated to antibodies against endothelial surface molecules. However, here we show that such “endothelial-targeted” nanocarriers also effectively target the lungs’ numerous marginated neutrophils, which reside in the pulmonary capillaries and patrol for pathogens. We show that marginated neutrophils’ uptake of many of these “endothelial-targeted” nanocarriers is on par with endothelial uptake. This generalizes across diverse nanomaterials and targeting moieties and was even found with physicochemical lung tropism (i.e., without targeting moieties). Further, we observed this in ex vivo human lungs and in vivo healthy mice, with an increase in marginated neutrophil uptake of nanoparticles caused by local or distant inflammation. These findings have implications for nanomedicine development for lung diseases. These data also suggest that marginated neutrophils, especially in the lungs, should be considered a major part of the reticuloendothelial system (RES), with a special role in clearing nanoparticles that adhere to the lumenal surfaces of blood vessels.