Nanocapsules for targeted drug delivery

COLL 104

Angus P. R. Johnston, angusj@unimelb.edu.au1, Christina Cortez, cmcortez@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au1, Eva Tomaskovic-Crook2, Edouard C. Nice2, Joan K. Heath2, and Frank Caruso, fcaruso@unimelb.edu.au1. (1) Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia, (2) Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Melbourne, 3050, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria, 3050, Australia
Targeted delivery of drugs to specific cells in the body has the potential to improve the treatment of many illnesses, including cancer and HIV. An emerging technique to deliver drugs is by immobilising the drug inside a nanocapsule. By using nanocapsules, the body is protected from potentially harmful side effects of the drug, while also preventing the drug from being degraded by the body. We show that nanocapsules, prepared using the layer-by-layer approach, can be targeted specifically to colorectal cancer cells by modifying the surface of the capsule with an antibody specific to an antigen found on almost all colorectal cancer cells. Once these targeted capsules bind to the cell, they are internalised into the cell. Nanocapsules not functionalised with the targeting antibody show limited binding and uptake by colorectal cancer cells.
 

Advances in Nanomedicine
2:00 PM-5:30 PM, Sunday, 10 September 2006 Sir Francis Drake -- Monterey/Cypress Rooms, Oral

Division of Colloid & Surface Chemistry

The 232nd ACS National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, September 10-14, 2006