Vaults engineered for hydrophobic drug delivery.

Small

Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, 615 Charles E. Young Drive South, University of California-Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.

Published: May 2011

AI Article Synopsis

Article Abstract

The vault nanoparticle is one of the largest known ribonucleoprotein complexes in the sub-100 nm range. Highly conserved and almost ubiquitously expressed in eukaryotes, vaults form a large nanocapsule with a barrel-shaped morphology surrounding a large hollow interior. These properties make vaults an ideal candidate for development into a drug delivery vehicle. In this study, the first example of using vaults towards this goal is reported. Recombinant vaults are engineered to encapsulate the highly insoluble and toxic hydrophobic compound all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) using a vault-binding lipoprotein complex that forms a lipid bilayer nanodisk. These recombinant vaults offer protection to the encapsulated ATRA from external elements. Furthermore, a cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) reconstruction shows the vault-binding lipoprotein complex sequestered within the vault lumen. Finally, these ATRA-loaded vaults show enhanced cytotoxicity against the hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2. The ability to package therapeutic compounds into the vault is an important achievement toward their development into a viable and versatile platform for drug delivery.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4182016PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smll.201002274DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

drug delivery
12
vaults engineered
8
recombinant vaults
8
vault-binding lipoprotein
8
lipoprotein complex
8
vaults
7
engineered hydrophobic
4
hydrophobic drug
4
delivery vault
4
vault nanoparticle
4

Similar Publications

Translocation across barriers and through constrictions is a mechanism that is often used in vivo for transporting material between compartments. A specific example is apicomplexan parasites invading host cells through the tight junction that acts as a pore, and a similar barrier crossing is involved in drug delivery using lipid vesicles penetrating intact skin. Here, we use triangulated membranes and energy minimization to study the translocation of vesicles through pores with fixed radii.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Pathogenic intracellular bacteria pose a significant threat to global public health due to the barriers presented by host cells hindering the timely detection of hidden bacteria and the effective delivery of therapeutic agents. To address these challenges, we propose a tandem diagnosis-guided treatment paradigm. A supramolecular sensor array is developed for simple, rapid, accurate, and high-throughput identification of intracellular bacteria.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

T cell lymphoma constitutes a complex group of diseases, characterized by heterogeneous molecular features and clinical symptoms, and a dismal outcome no matter the therapeutic strategy chosen. In an attempt to improve patients' survival chances, treatment combinations (chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy and thermotherapy) have been tested for their synergistic effects that may dramatically improve outcomes and reduce the side effects of each single modality treatment when therapeutic effects add up while side effects are distributed. In this context, nanoscale drug delivery agents have been developed and exploited to enhance the release of drugs in the treatment of several diseases, showing potential benefits in terms of pharmaceutical flexibility, selectivity, dose reduction and minimization of adverse effects.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ethnic disparities in HbA1c and hypoglycemia among youth with type 1 diabetes: beyond access to technology, social deprivation and mean blood glucose.

BMJ Open Diabetes Res Care

January 2025

Diabetes and Endocrinology, Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK

Introduction: The UK national pediatric diabetes audit reports higher HbA1c for children and young people (CYP) with type 1 diabetes (T1D) of Black ethnicity compared with White counterparts. This is presumably related to higher mean blood glucose (MBG) due to lower socioeconomic status (SES) and less access to technology. We aimed to determine if HbA1c ethnic disparity persists after accounting for the above variables.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hyaluronic acid modified metal-organic frameworks loading cisplatin achieve combined chemodynamic therapy and chemotherapy for lung cancer.

Int J Biol Macromol

January 2025

Department of Oncology, the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan 646000, PR China; Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Luzhou, Sichuan 646000, PR China. Electronic address:

As one of the most commonly used chemotherapeutic agents in clinical practice, cisplatin is unable to selectively accumulate in tumor tissue due to its lack of targeting ability, leading to increased systemic toxicities. Additionally, the effectiveness of monotherapy is greatly limited. Therefore, the development of new cisplatin-based drug delivery systems is essential to improve the effectiveness of tumor treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!