Size controlled protein nanoemulsions for active targeting of folate receptor positive cells

• Autor(a) principal: Loureiro, Ana Isabel Sá
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: Nogueira, Eugénia Sofia Costa, Azóia, Nuno G., Sárria, M. P., Abreu, Ana S., Shimanovich, Ulyana, Rollett, Alexandra, Härmark, Johan, Hebert, Hans, Guebitz, Georg, Bernardes, Gonçalo J. L., Preto, Ana, Gomes, Andreia C., Cavaco-Paulo, Artur
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/37157
• topic: Protein-based nanoemulsions; High pressure homogenization; PEGylated surfactant; Folic acid; Active targeting; Ciências Médicas::Biotecnologia Médica; Science & Technology

Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) nanoemulsions were produced by high pressure homogenization with a tri-block copolymer (Poloxamer 407), which presents a central hydrophobic chain of polyoxypropylene (PPO) and two identical lateral hydrophilic chains of polyethylene glycol (PEG). We observed a linear correlation between tri-block copolymer concentration and size - the use of 5 mg/mL of Poloxamer 407 yields nanoemulsions smaller than 100 nm. Molecular dynamics and fluorescent tagging of the tri-block copolymer highlight their mechanistic role on the size of emulsions. This novel method enables the fabrication of highly stable albumin emulsions in the nano-size range, highly desirable for controlled drug delivery. Folic Acid (FA)-tagged protein nanoemulsions were shown to promote specific Folate Receptor (FR)-mediated targeting in FR positive cells. The novel strategy presented here enables the construction of size controlled, functionalized protein-based nanoemulsions with excellent characteristics for active targeting in cancer therapy.