Nanotechnology

Research Description

Shad Thaxton MD, PhD, invented, synthesized, and characterized the first biomimetic high-density lipoprotein nanoparticles. High density lipoproteins (HDLs) are natural nanoparticles that circulate in the human body to carry cholesterol. Cholesterol carried by HDLs is often referred to as “good cholesterol” because HDL blood levels inversely correlate with the development of cardiovascular disease. The Thaxton Group utilizes a gold nanoparticle scaffold to assemble the natural surface chemical components of HDLs to create synthetic HDL nanoparticles. The HDL nanoparticles recapitulate the size, shape, surface chemistry, and cholesterol binding properties of natural HDLs. As such, The Thaxton Lab is using these unique biomimetic materials to better understand the structure-function properties of natural HDLs and also as potential therapies for atherosclerosis and heart disease.

For more information, see the faculty profile of  C. Shad Thaxton, MD, PhD

Publications

• Henrich SE, Hong BJ, Rink JS, Nguyen SBT, Thaxton CS. Supramolecular Assembly of High-Density Lipoprotein Mimetic Nanoparticles Using Lipid-Conjugated Core Scaffolds. Journal of the American Chemical Society. June 2019.

• Henrich SE, Thaxton CS. An update on synthetic high-density lipoprotein-like nanoparticles for cancer therapy. Expert Review of Anticancer Therapy. June 2019. 

• Rink JS, Sun W, Misener S, Wang JJ, Zhang ZJ, Kibbe MR, Dravid VP, Venkatraman S, Thaxton CS. Nitric Oxide-Delivering High-Density Lipoprotein-like Nanoparticles as a Biomimetic Nanotherapy for Vascular Diseases.  ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. February 2018.

View Dr. Thaxton's other publications at PubMed

Contact

Email Dr. Thaxton

Phone 312-503-1826

Lab Staff

Post-doctoral Fellows

Nick Angeloni, Kannan Mutharasan, Jonathan Rink

Graduate Students

Kaylin M. McMahon, Michael Plebanek, Sushant Tripathy, Andrea Luthi

Research Technician

Amritha Singh