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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — An innovative strategy of mixing lipids and
nanoparticles to produce new drug and agricultural materials and delivery
vehicles has been developed by researchers at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign.
“This is a new way to make nano-size capsules of a biologically friendly
material,” said Steve Granick, a professor of materials science and
engineering, chemistry and physics. “The hollow, deformable and biofunctional
capsules could be used in drug delivery, colloidal-based biosensors and
enzyme-catalyzed reactions.”
Lipids are the building blocks of cell membranes. The construction of useful
artificial lipid vesicles was previously not possible, because the vesicles were
too delicate. Granick and graduate student Liangfang Zhang found a way to
stabilize lipids and stop their destruction. The researchers describe their
technique in a paper accepted for publication in the journal Nano Letters, and
posted on its Web site.
To stabilize lipids, the researchers begin by preparing a dilute solution of lipid
capsules of a particular size. After encapsulating chemicals in the capsules or
adsorbing molecules on their surfaces, they add charged nanoparticles to the
solution. The nanoparticles adhere to the capsules and prevent further growth,
freezing them at the desired size. The lipid concentration can then be increased
without limits.
“We form an ‘army’ of uniform capsules, and then we can use them in a
military fashion,” said Granick, who also is a researcher at the Frederick Seitz
Materials Research Laboratory and at the Beckman Institute for Advanced
Science and Technology. “That is, the capsules are well behaved, and follow
orders without wandering off and propagating.”
As proof of concept, Granick and Zhang encapsulated fluorescent dyes within
lipid capsules. No leakage occurred, and the lipids proved stable against
further fusion.
“This opens the door to using biologically friendly capsule delivery vehicles in
exciting new health and agricultural applications,” Granick said. “Chemical
reactions can be performed within individual isolated capsules, or on groups
of capsules linked together like boxcars in a train.”
The biocompatible containers could carry cargo such as enzymes, DNA,
proteins and drug molecules throughout living organisms. They could also
serve as surrogate factories where enzyme-catalyzed reactions are performed.
By attaching biomolecules to the capsule’s surface, novel colloidal-size
sensors could be produced.
An additional use for stabilized lipid capsules is the study of drug behavior. “A
drug contained in this nano environment is like a fish swimming inside a bowl,”
Granick said. “We can study the ‘fish’ in detail, and it won’t swim away.”
The U.S. Department of Energy funded the work.
From http://www.news.uiuc.edu/news/06/0306lipids.html
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Steve Granick, a professor of
materials science, engineering,
chemistry and physics, has
developed an innovative
strategy of mixing lipids and
nanoparticles to produce new
drug and agricultural materials
and delivery vehicles.
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