Functional Nanoparticles Activate a Decellularized Liver Scaffold for Blood Detoxification.

Extracorporeal devices have great promise for cleansing the body of virulence factors that are caused by venomous injuries, bacterial infections, and biological weaponry. The clinically used extracorporeal devices, such as artificial liver-support systems that are mainly based on dialysis or electrostatic interaction, are limited to remove a target toxin. Here, a liver-mimetic device is shown that consists of decellularized liver scaffold (DLS) populated with polydiacetylene (PDA) nanoparticles. DLS has the gross shape and 3D architecture of a liver, and the PDA nanoparticles selectively capture and neutralize the pore-forming toxins (PFTs). This device can efficiently and target-orientedly remove PFTs in human blood ex vivo without changing blood components or activating complement factors, showing potential application in antidotal therapy. This work provides a proof-of-principle for blood detoxification by a nanoparticle-activated DLS, and can lead to the development of future medical devices for antidotal therapy.