Arturo Vegas | Profiles RNS

Arturo Vegas, PhD

Assistant Professor

Boston University College of Arts and Sciences

Chemistry

PhD, Harvard University
BA, Cornell University

Websites

	Chemistry Faculty
	Vegas Group Homepage
	BU Nanotechnology Innovation Center (BUnano)
	Google Scholar
	LinkedIn
	ResearchGate

The Vegas group pursues general and systematic approaches to developing targeted therapeutic carriers for the treatment of multiple human diseases. Small-molecule drugs excel at altering disease states at the cellular level, but their therapeutic benefits are often hindered by physiological barriers that impact their toxicity, efficacy, and distribution. The ability to overcome these barriers can make major differences in both the safety and effectiveness of a therapeutic. Engineering-based approaches have successfully shown that formulation can overcome barriers associated with toxicity and bioavailability, and are increasingly focused on tissue distribution and selective targeting of diseased tissues. There are currently few examples of chemical approaches being used to develop and implement new targeting modalities for drug delivery, and key questions have arisen regarding implementation and outcome. Can we effectively utilize physiological targets to localize medicines to diseased tissues? What targets can be used to improve drug localization to tumor sites? Can we modulate the tumor microenvironment? Can we selectively destroy autoimmune-causing cells?
Projects in the lab are focused on developing novel chemical tools, materials and approaches for targeting therapeutics to diseased tissues, with an emphasis on cancer and diabetes. These new tools will facilitate studies in the lab to understand mechanisms that control the physiological distribution of therapeutics and informing future targeting element design.

-For cancer, the primary focus will be developing conjugate and nanoparticle based approaches that control the physiological distribution and uptake of therapeutic molecules to tumors and the use of biomaterials to manipulate the tumor microenvironment.

-For diabetes, our focus will be selective destruction and modulation of cells responsible for the underlying type 1 autoimmunity.

Researchers in the lab design and implement synthetic methods to create novel targeting moieties and materials and link them to payloads with therapeutic value or potential. These constructs will then be evaluated at the protein and cellular levels, with lead constructs being advanced into animal studies. Techniques, methods, and approaches from organic synthesis, chemical biology, materials science, and biomedical engineering will be integrated to address these challenging problems in drug delivery.

Member
Boston University
BU-BMC Cancer Center

Member
Boston University
Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research

BU Research
NIH RePORTER Research

Translational Research in Biomaterials
09/01/2022 - 08/31/2027 (Multi-PI)
PI: Arturo Vegas, PhD
NIH/National Institute of Biomedical Imaging & Bioengineering
5T32EB006359-15

Targeted Delivery Systems for Islet Protection and Regeneration
08/01/2022 - 12/31/2023 (Multi-PI)
PI: Arturo Vegas, PhD
JDRF

Quantifying Nanoparticle Distribution in Plants
11/16/2021 - 08/15/2022 (PI)
Invaio Sciences

Targeted immunomodulation of the diabetic islet microenvironment
09/20/2016 - 08/31/2021 (PI)
NIH/National Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases
1DP2DK111913-01

Hepatocyte-Specific Viral Tropism with GalNAc Targeted Viruses
10/30/2017 - 10/29/2019 (PI)
Combined Therapeutics Inc.

Title

Yr	Title	Project-Sub Proj	Pubs
2024	Translational Research in Biomaterials	5T32EB006359-15
2023	Translational Research in Biomaterials	3T32EB006359-14S1
2023	Translational Research in Biomaterials	5T32EB006359-14
2022	Translational Research in Biomaterials	2T32EB006359-13
2021	Translational Research in Biomaterials	5T32EB006359-12	42
2016	Targeted immunomodulation of the diabetic islet microenvironment	1DP2DK111913-01	2

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

iCite Analysis Copy PMIDs To Clipboard

Raavi, Koehler AN, Vegas AJ. At The Interface: Small-Molecule Inhibitors of Soluble Cytokines. Chem Rev. 2025 May 14; 125(9):4528-4568. PMID: 40233276

Hou H, Xu Z, Takeda YS, Powers M, Yang Y, Hershberger K, Hanscom H, Svenson S, Simhadri RK, Vegas AJ. Quantitative biodistribution of nanoparticles in plants with lanthanide complexes. Sci Rep. 2023 Dec 05; 13(1):21440. PMID: 38052849; PMCID: PMC10698154; DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47811-4;

Paris JC, Hu S, Wen A, Weitz AC, Cheng R, Gee LB, Tang Y, Kim H, Vegas A, Chang WC, Elliott SJ, Liu P, Guo Y. An S=1 Iron(IV) Intermediate Revealed in a Non-Heme Iron Enzyme-Catalyzed Oxidative C-S Bond Formation. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2023 Oct 23; 62(43):e202309362.View Related Profiles.

Vegas, Arturo
Elliott, Sean

PMID: 37640689; PMCID: PMC10592081; DOI: 10.1002/anie.202309362;

Doloff JC, Ma M, Sadraei A, Tam HH, Farah S, Hollister-Lock J, Vegas AJ, Veiseh O, Quiroz VM, Rakoski A, Aresta-DaSilva S, Bader AR, Griffin M, Weir GC, Brehm MA, Shultz LD, Langer R, Greiner DL, Anderson DG. Identification of a humanized mouse model for functional testing of immune-mediated biomaterial foreign body response. Sci Adv. 2023 Jun 16; 9(24):eade9488. PMID: 37327334; PMCID: PMC10275594; DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ade9488;

Xu Z, Huo W, Ireland T, Huang L, Ocampo T, Vegas AJ. A Quantitative Metal-Encoded Conjugate Platform for Targeting Ligand Discovery. Bioconjug Chem. 2022 Jul 20; 33(7):1279-1285. PMID: 35758018

Feng Y, Quinnell SP, Lanzi AM, Vegas AJ. Alginate-Based Amphiphilic Block Copolymers as a Drug Codelivery Platform. Nano Lett. 2021 09 22; 21(18):7495-7504. PMID: 34495662; PMCID: PMC8768502; DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c01525;

Doloff JC, Veiseh O, Vegas AJ, Tam HH, Farah S, Ma M, Li J, Bader A, Chiu A, Sadraei A, Aresta-Dasilva S, Griffin M, Jhunjhunwala S, Webber M, Siebert S, Tang K, Chen M, Langan E, Dholakia N, Thakrar R, Qi M, Oberholzer J, Greiner DL, Langer R, Anderson DG. Author Correction: Colony stimulating factor-1 receptor is a central component of the foreign body response to biomaterial implants in rodents and non-human primates. Nat Mater. 2021 Jul; 20(7):1038. PMID: 34012046

Quinnell SP, Leifer BS, Nestor ST, Tan K, Sheehy DF, Ceo L, Doyle SK, Koehler AN, Vegas AJ. A Small-Molecule Inhibitor to the Cytokine Interleukin-4. ACS Chem Biol. 2020 10 16; 15(10):2649-2654. PMID: 32902255

Veiseh O, Vegas AJ. Domesticating the foreign body response: Recent advances and applications. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2019 04; 144:148-161. PMID: 31491445; PMCID: PMC6774350; DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2019.08.010;

Sheehy DF, Quinnell SP, Vegas AJ. Targeting Type 1 Diabetes: Selective Approaches for New Therapies. Biochemistry. 2019 01 29; 58(4):214-233. PMID: 30608114; PMCID: PMC6774349; DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.8b01118;

Showing 10 of 37 results. Show More

Bochenek MA, Veiseh O, Vegas AJ, McGarrigle JJ, Qi M, Marchese E, Omami M, Doloff JC, Mendoza-Elias J, Nourmohammadzadeh M, Khan A, Yeh CC, Xing Y, Isa D, Ghani S, Li J, Landry C, Bader AR, Olejnik K, Chen M, Hollister-Lock J, Wang Y, Greiner DL, Weir GC, Løkensgard Strand B, Rokstad AMA, Lacik I, Langer R, Anderson DG, Oberholzer J. Alginate encapsulation as long-term immune protection of allogeneic pancreatic islet cells transplanted into the omental bursa of macaques. Nat Biomed Eng. 2018 Nov; 2(11):810-821. PMID: 30873298; PMCID: PMC6413527; DOI: 10.1038/s41551-018-0275-1;

Xie X, Doloff JC, Yesilyurt V, Sadraei A, McGarrigle JJ, Omami M, Veiseh O, Farah S, Isa D, Ghani S, Joshi I, Vegas A, Li J, Wang W, Bader A, Tam HH, Tao J, Chen HJ, Yang B, Williamson KA, Oberholzer J, Langer R, Anderson DG. Reduction of measurement noise in a continuous glucose monitor by coating the sensor with a zwitterionic polymer. Nat Biomed Eng. 2018 12; 2(12):894-906. PMID: 30931173; PMCID: PMC6436621; DOI: 10.1038/s41551-018-0273-3;

Doloff JC, Veiseh O, Vegas AJ, Tam HH, Farah S, Ma M, Li J, Bader A, Chiu A, Sadraei A, Aresta-Dasilva S, Griffin M, Jhunjhunwala S, Webber M, Siebert S, Tang K, Chen M, Langan E, Dholokia N, Thakrar R, Qi M, Oberholzer J, Greiner DL, Langer R, Anderson DG. Colony stimulating factor-1 receptor is a central component of the foreign body response to biomaterial implants in rodents and non-human primates. Nat Mater. 2017 06; 16(6):671-680. PMID: 28319612; PMCID: PMC5445003; DOI: 10.1038/nmat4866;

Xie X, Zhang W, Abbaspourrad A, Ahn J, Bader A, Bose S, Vegas A, Lin J, Tao J, Hang T, Lee H, Iverson N, Bisker G, Li L, Strano MS, Weitz DA, Anderson DG. Microfluidic Fabrication of Colloidal Nanomaterials-Encapsulated Microcapsules for Biomolecular Sensing. Nano Lett. 2017 03 08; 17(3):2015-2020. PMID: 28152589; DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b00026;

Yesilyurt V, Veiseh O, Doloff JC, Li J, Bose S, Xie X, Bader AR, Chen M, Webber MJ, Vegas AJ, Langer R, Anderson DG. A Facile and Versatile Method to Endow Biomaterial Devices with Zwitterionic Surface Coatings. Adv Healthc Mater. 2017 Feb; 6(4). PMID: 27976536; PMCID: PMC5322155; DOI: 10.1002/adhm.201601091;

Kanasty RL, Vegas AJ, Ceo LM, Maier M, Charisse K, Nair JK, Langer R, Anderson DG. Sequence-Defined Oligomers from Hydroxyproline Building Blocks for Parallel Synthesis Applications. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2016 08 08; 55(33):9529-33. PMID: 27365192; PMCID: PMC5245870; DOI: 10.1002/anie.201602748;

Vegas AJ, Veiseh O, Doloff JC, Ma M, Tam HH, Bratlie K, Li J, Bader AR, Langan E, Olejnik K, Fenton P, Kang JW, Hollister-Locke J, Bochenek MA, Chiu A, Siebert S, Tang K, Jhunjhunwala S, Aresta-Dasilva S, Dholakia N, Thakrar R, Vietti T, Chen M, Cohen J, Siniakowicz K, Qi M, McGarrigle J, Lyle S, Harlan DM, Greiner DL, Oberholzer J, Weir GC, Langer R, Anderson DG. Corrigendum: Combinatorial hydrogel library enables identification of materials that mitigate the foreign body response in primates. Nat Biotechnol. 2016 06 09; 34(6):666. PMID: 27281428; DOI: 10.1038/nbt0616-666e;

Vegas AJ, Veiseh O, Gürtler M, Millman JR, Pagliuca FW, Bader AR, Doloff JC, Li J, Chen M, Olejnik K, Tam HH, Jhunjhunwala S, Langan E, Aresta-Dasilva S, Gandham S, McGarrigle JJ, Bochenek MA, Hollister-Lock J, Oberholzer J, Greiner DL, Weir GC, Melton DA, Langer R, Anderson DG. Corrigendum: Long-term glycemic control using polymer-encapsulated human stem cell-derived beta cells in immune-competent mice. Nat Med. 2016 Apr; 22(4):446. PMID: 27050590; DOI: 10.1038/nm0416-446e;

Vegas AJ, Veiseh O, Doloff JC, Ma M, Tam HH, Bratlie K, Li J, Bader AR, Langan E, Olejnik K, Fenton P, Kang JW, Hollister-Locke J, Bochenek MA, Chiu A, Siebert S, Tang K, Jhunjhunwala S, Aresta-Dasilva S, Dholakia N, Thakrar R, Vietti T, Chen M, Cohen J, Siniakowicz K, Qi M, McGarrigle J, Lyle S, Harlan DM, Greiner DL, Oberholzer J, Weir GC, Langer R, Anderson DG. Combinatorial hydrogel library enables identification of materials that mitigate the foreign body response in primates. Nat Biotechnol. 2016 Mar; 34(3):345-52. PMID: 26807527; PMCID: PMC4904301; DOI: 10.1038/nbt.3462;

Vegas AJ, Veiseh O, Gürtler M, Millman JR, Pagliuca FW, Bader AR, Doloff JC, Li J, Chen M, Olejnik K, Tam HH, Jhunjhunwala S, Langan E, Aresta-Dasilva S, Gandham S, McGarrigle JJ, Bochenek MA, Hollister-Lock J, Oberholzer J, Greiner DL, Weir GC, Melton DA, Langer R, Anderson DG. Long-term glycemic control using polymer-encapsulated human stem cell-derived beta cells in immune-competent mice. Nat Med. 2016 Mar; 22(3):306-11. PMID: 26808346; PMCID: PMC4825868; DOI: 10.1038/nm.4030;

Jaklenec A, Anselmo AC, Hong J, Vegas AJ, Kozminsky M, Langer R, Hammond PT, Anderson DG. High Throughput Layer-by-Layer Films for Extracting Film Forming Parameters and Modulating Film Interactions with Cells. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2016 Jan 27; 8(3):2255-61. PMID: 26713554; DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5b11081;

Jhunjhunwala S, Aresta-DaSilva S, Tang K, Alvarez D, Webber MJ, Tang BC, Lavin DM, Veiseh O, Doloff JC, Bose S, Vegas A, Ma M, Sahay G, Chiu A, Bader A, Langan E, Siebert S, Li J, Greiner DL, Newburger PE, von Andrian UH, Langer R, Anderson DG. Neutrophil Responses to Sterile Implant Materials. PLoS One. 2015; 10(9):e0137550. PMID: 26355958; PMCID: PMC4565661

Veiseh O, Doloff JC, Ma M, Vegas AJ, Tam HH, Bader AR, Li J, Langan E, Wyckoff J, Loo WS, Jhunjhunwala S, Chiu A, Siebert S, Tang K, Hollister-Lock J, Aresta-Dasilva S, Bochenek M, Mendoza-Elias J, Wang Y, Qi M, Lavin DM, Chen M, Dholakia N, Thakrar R, Lacík I, Weir GC, Oberholzer J, Greiner DL, Langer R, Anderson DG. Size- and shape-dependent foreign body immune response to materials implanted in rodents and non-human primates. Nat Mater. 2015 Jun; 14(6):643-51. PMID: 25985456; PMCID: PMC4477281; DOI: 10.1038/nmat4290;

Yin H, Kanasty RL, Eltoukhy AA, Vegas AJ, Dorkin JR, Anderson DG. Non-viral vectors for gene-based therapy. Nat Rev Genet. 2014 Aug; 15(8):541-55. PMID: 25022906; DOI: 10.1038/nrg3763;

Whitehead KA, Dorkin JR, Vegas AJ, Chang PH, Veiseh O, Matthews J, Fenton OS, Zhang Y, Olejnik KT, Yesilyurt V, Chen D, Barros S, Klebanov B, Novobrantseva T, Langer R, Anderson DG. Degradable lipid nanoparticles with predictable in vivo siRNA delivery activity. Nat Commun. 2014; 5:4277. PMID: 24969323; PMCID: PMC4111939; DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5277;

Dong Y, Love KT, Dorkin JR, Sirirungruang S, Zhang Y, Chen D, Bogorad RL, Yin H, Chen Y, Vegas AJ, Alabi CA, Sahay G, Olejnik KT, Wang W, Schroeder A, Lytton-Jean AK, Siegwart DJ, Akinc A, Barnes C, Barros SA, Carioto M, Fitzgerald K, Hettinger J, Kumar V, Novobrantseva TI, Qin J, Querbes W, Koteliansky V, Langer R, Anderson DG. Lipopeptide nanoparticles for potent and selective siRNA delivery in rodents and nonhuman primates. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Mar 18; 111(11):3955-60. PMID: 24516150; PMCID: PMC3964096; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1322937111;

Kanasty R, Dorkin JR, Vegas A, Anderson D. Delivery materials for siRNA therapeutics. Nat Mater. 2013 Nov; 12(11):967-77. PMID: 24150415; DOI: 10.1038/nmat3765;

Gu M, Vegas AJ, Anderson DG, Langer RS, Kilduff JE, Belfort G. Combinatorial synthesis with high throughput discovery of protein-resistant membrane surfaces. Biomaterials. 2013 Aug; 34(26):6133-8. PMID: 23706542; PMCID: PMC3957435; DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2013.04.051;

Kastrup CJ, Nahrendorf M, Figueiredo JL, Lee H, Kambhampati S, Lee T, Cho SW, Gorbatov R, Iwamoto Y, Dang TT, Dutta P, Yeon JH, Cheng H, Pritchard CD, Vegas AJ, Siegel CD, MacDougall S, Okonkwo M, Thai A, Stone JR, Coury AJ, Weissleder R, Langer R, Anderson DG. Painting blood vessels and atherosclerotic plaques with an adhesive drug depot. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Dec 26; 109(52):21444-9. PMID: 23236189; PMCID: PMC3535589; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1217972110;

Ma M, Chiu A, Sahay G, Doloff JC, Dholakia N, Thakrar R, Cohen J, Vegas A, Chen D, Bratlie KM, Dang T, York RL, Hollister-Lock J, Weir GC, Anderson DG. Core-shell hydrogel microcapsules for improved islets encapsulation. Adv Healthc Mater. 2013 May; 2(5):667-72. PMID: 23208618; PMCID: PMC3814167; DOI: 10.1002/adhm.201200341;

Alabi C, Vegas A, Anderson D. Attacking the genome: emerging siRNA nanocarriers from concept to clinic. Curr Opin Pharmacol. 2012 Aug; 12(4):427-33. PMID: 22726555; DOI: 10.1016/j.coph.2012.05.004;

Kanasty RL, Whitehead KA, Vegas AJ, Anderson DG. Action and reaction: the biological response to siRNA and its delivery vehicles. Mol Ther. 2012 Mar; 20(3):513-24. PMID: 22252451; PMCID: PMC3293611; DOI: 10.1038/mt.2011.294;

O'Sullivan ES, Vegas A, Anderson DG, Weir GC. Islets transplanted in immunoisolation devices: a review of the progress and the challenges that remain. Endocr Rev. 2011 Dec; 32(6):827-44. PMID: 21951347; PMCID: PMC3591674; DOI: 10.1210/er.2010-0026;

Siegwart DJ, Whitehead KA, Nuhn L, Sahay G, Cheng H, Jiang S, Ma M, Lytton-Jean A, Vegas A, Fenton P, Levins CG, Love KT, Lee H, Cortez C, Collins SP, Li YF, Jang J, Querbes W, Zurenko C, Novobrantseva T, Langer R, Anderson DG. Combinatorial synthesis of chemically diverse core-shell nanoparticles for intracellular delivery. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Aug 9; 108(32):12996-3001. PMID: 21784981; PMCID: PMC3156157; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1106379108;

Vegas AJ, Koehler AN. Detecting protein-small molecule interactions using fluorous small-molecule microarrays. Methods Mol Biol. 2010; 669:43-55. PMID: 20857356; DOI: 10.1007/978-1-60761-845-4_4;

Vegas AJ, Fuller JH, Koehler AN. Small-molecule microarrays as tools in ligand discovery. Chem Soc Rev. 2008 Jul; 37(7):1385-94. PMID: 18568164; PMCID: PMC2688956; DOI: 10.1039/b703568n;

Vegas AJ, Bradner JE, Tang W, McPherson OM, Greenberg EF, Koehler AN, Schreiber SL. Fluorous-based small-molecule microarrays for the discovery of histone deacetylase inhibitors. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2007; 46(42):7960-4. PMID: 17868168; PMCID: PMC2790065; DOI: 10.1002/anie.200703198;

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 37 publications over 17 distinct years, with a maximum of 7 publications in 2016