| Abstract
| - The use of drugs with intracellular targets will strongly depend on the availability of delivery systems that are ableto deliver them to specific intracellular sites at an optimal rate. Biodegradable dextran nanogels were prepared usingliposomes as a nanoscaled reactor.1,2 These nanogels were obtained by UV polymerization of dextran hydroxyethylmethacrylate (dex-HEMA) containing 1-stearoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (SOPC) liposomes. We foundthe encapsulation efficiency of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lysozyme in the dextran nanogels to be about 50%.Specifically, the release of BSA and lysozyme from the dextran nanogels was clearly governed by the cross-link densityof the tiny gels. Depending on the size of the encapsulated protein, the cross-link density of the dextran network, andthe presence or absence of a lipid coating, proteins were released from the nanogels over days to weeks. Interestingly,when sufficiently diluted, dextran nanogels did not aggregate in human serum, which is of major importance whenone considers intravenous administration of such nanogels. Also, reconstitution of lyophilized dextran nanogels seemedperfectly possible, which is also an important finding since dextran nanogels will have to be stored in dry form. Becausedextran nanogels can be taken up by cells, they are promising materials for controlled intracellular release of proteins.
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