Light-activated, drug-carrying liposomes show potential for minimally invasive glaucoma treatments

More than 4 million people in the United States have glaucoma, a group of eye diseases that can damage the optic nerve and lead to vision loss. It is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide and there is currently no cure, but there is a way to prevent vision loss through early detection and treatment.

The two main treatment options, however, are ineffective and have drawbacks. Medicated eye drops are non-invasive but cannot be absorbed for full effectiveness. Repeated injections into the eye can lead to infections or inflammation, not to mention patient discomfort.

Researchers at Binghamton University are exploring several new glaucoma treatments that would be less invasive. In a study recently published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry BAssistant Professor Qianbin Wang and Ph.D. Dorcas Matuwana, a student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science, shared her findings on drug-carrying liposomes that could be activated in the eye to using near infrared light.

BME Assistant Professor Siyuan Rao also contributed to the research; Eunji Hong, PhD ’23; Sizhe Huang, Ph.D. ’24; and Ph.D. students Xinxin Xu, Geunho Jang and Ruobai Xiao.

“The first problem we discovered is that most pharmacological compounds are hydrophobic, meaning they have low solubility in water,” Wang explained. “The second issue is using a thermal effect to trigger the release. How can we achieve this without affecting patient comfort or having side effects?”

Liposomes, which are small spherical artificial vesicles capable of delivering drugs and other molecules to specific sites in the body, have gold nanorods embedded on their fatty surface. The gold heats under a specific near-infrared wavelength and breaks down the membrane to release the necessary medication, which is mixed with cyclodextrin to facilitate its absorption into the eye.

Binghamton researchers have tested liposomes to treat glaucomatous neurodegeneration in mice and consider them a better alternative to current treatments.

“We call it ‘minimally invasive’ because it would be a single injection effective enough to induce a drop in intraocular pressure necessary to maintain glaucoma,” Matuwana said.

“For our system, it’s a direct injection. We would inject it once and deliver the drug using near-infrared light. There would be no need to constantly go back and do injections into the “eye, which is very invasive.”

Wang and Matuwana came to Binghamton last year from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, when Wang became a faculty member at Watson College and moved his neuromechanics lab to the BME department.

“Working with Dr. Wang is amazing,” Matuwana said. “He always wants the best from you. With this publication, he is highlighted as an emerging scholar, and for us as students we want to constantly improve to get the best results for him.”

Wang and his neuromechanics lab are already researching improvements to this liposomal technique and want to explore other options, including genetic engineering.

“Currently, there is no comprehensive treatment for glaucoma,” he said. “We’re trying to contribute to this field to see if we can find a better way to treat glaucoma in the future.”