Adaptive in vivo device for theranostics of inflammation: Real-time monitoring of interferon-γ and aspirin

Abstract: Cytokines mediate and control immune and inflammatory responses. Complex interactions exist among cytokines, inflammation, and the innate and adaptive immune responses in maintaining homeostasis, health, and well-being. On-demand, local delivery of anti-inflammatory drugs to target tissues provides an approach for more effective drug dosing while reducing the adverse effects of systemic drug delivery. This work demonstrates a proof-of-concept theranostic approach for inflammationbased on analytekissing induced signaling, whereby a drug (in this report,  aspirin) can be released upon the detectionof a target level of a proinflammatory cytokine (i.e., interferon-γ (IFN-γ )) in real time. The structureswitching aptamer-based biosensor described here is capable of quantitatively and dynamically detecting IFN-γ both in vitro and in vivo with a sensitivity of 10 pg mL−1. Moreover, the released aspirin triggeredby the immunoregulatory cytokine IFN-γ is able to inhibit inflammation in a rat model, and the release of aspirin can be quantitatively controlled. The data reported here provide a new and promising strategy for the in vivo detection of proinflammatory cytokines and the subsequent therapeutic delivery of anti-inflammatory molecules. This universal theranostic platform is expected to have great potential for patient-specific personalized medicine.