More than 2.8 million annually in the United States are afflicted with some form of traumatic brain injury (TBI), where 75% of victims have a mild form of TBI (MTBI). TBI risk is higher for individuals engaging in physical activities or involved in accidents. Although MTBI may not be initially life-threatening, a large number of these victims can develop cognitive and physical dysfunctions. These late clinical sequelae have been attributed to the development of secondary injuries that can occur minutes to days after the initial impact. To minimize brain damage from TBI, it is critical to diagnose and treat patients within the first or "golden" hour after TBI. Although it would be very helpful to quickly determine the TBI locations in the brain and direct the treatment selectively to the affected sites, this remains a challenge. Herein, we disclose our novel strategy to target cyclosporine A (CsA) into TBI sites, without the need to locate the exact location of the TBI lesion. Our approach is based on TBI treatment with a cyanine dye nanocage attached to CsA, a known therapeutic agent for TBI that is associated with unacceptable toxicities. In its caged form, CsA remains inactive, while after near-IR light photoactivation, the resulting fragmentation of the cyanine nanocage leads to the selective release of CsA at the TBI sites.
Keywords: cyanine dye; cyclosporine A; light-activated; near-infrared; traumatic brain injury (TBI).