- Nguyen, Mary M;
- Carlini, Andrea S;
- Chien, Miao-Ping;
- Sonnenberg, Sonya;
- Luo, Colin;
- Braden, Rebecca L;
- Osborn, Kent G;
- Li, Yiwen;
- Gianneschi, Nathan C;
- Christman, Karen L
A method for targeting to and retaining intravenously injected nanoparticles at the site of acute myocardial infarction in a rat model is described. Enzyme-responsive peptide-polymer amphiphiles are assembled as spherical micellar nanoparticles, and undergo a morphological transition from spherical-shaped, discrete materials to network-like assemblies when acted upon by matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9), which are up-regulated in heart tissue post-myocardial infarction.