Graduate Student Daniel Serrano Recipient of Research Award

Daniel Serrano, a graduate student in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Concentration Area of the Biological Sciences Graduate Program at the University of Maryland, has been selected to receive a research award sponsored by the Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Symposium that was recently held at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Serrano is a PhD candidate in the laboratory of Dr. Silvia Muro (IBBR and Fischell Department of Bioengineering). The award-winning work shows the design and characterization of a new short affinity peptide derived from a natural ligand of Intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), a transmembrane glycoprotein expressed on activated endothelial cells in blood vessels. ICAM-1 is known to be important in stabilizing cell-cell interactions and facilitating leukocyte endothelial transmigration. The affinity peptide described in the research shows that it could be used for targeting of drug nanocarriers to cells that express this molecule (e.g., endothelial cells for treatment of cardiovascular and other conditions). The peptide recognizes ICAM-1 in both mice and humans and therefore may have future therapeutic potential.

In addition to this research on the new ICAM-1-derived affinity peptide, the research in Dr. Muro’s laboratory focuses on mechanisms of endocytic vesicular transport, including their role in physiology and disease and their translational application for the controlled delivery of nano-scale therapeutics. The research in Dr. Muro’s lab is sponsored by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association.