# Design and Application of Photoresponsive Modules in Circulating Erythrocytes

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2024 · $687,920

## Abstract

Project Summary
The use of light to activate therapeutic agents at diseased sites offers the advantage of
aggressive treatment with exquisite spatial and temporal control, thereby reducing
potential deleterious side effects at unintended sites. Although photo-activated pro-drugs
have been reported, these species require short wavelengths (<450 nm) for activation.
However, maximal tissue penetrance by light occurs within the “optical window of tissue”
(600 – 900 nm), well beyond the wavelength range of existing photo-cleavable functional
groups. We’ve developed a new technology that transforms drugs into light responsive
“phototherapeutics” that are conveyed by circulating erythrocytes. The proposed
research program seeks to address several fundamental questions associated with light
responsive therapeutics: (1) What is the mechanism of light capture and drug release in
the B12-based molecular scaffolds, (2) what is the optimized structural relationship
between the light capturing antennas and the photolysis of the B12-drug bond, (3) what
is the scope of therapeutic agents that are amenable to this photo-technology, (4) do
phototherapeutics furnish an enhanced therapeutic window relative to the standard of
care, and (5) what is the relationship between the activation wavelength and the
therapeutic window?

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10829871
- **Project number:** 5R01HL153744-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** DAVID S. LAWRENCE
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $687,920
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-05-01 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10829871

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10829871, Design and Application of Photoresponsive Modules in Circulating Erythrocytes (5R01HL153744-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10829871. Licensed CC0.

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