Enzyme-catalyzed self-propelling particles : applications for drug delivery to solid tumors
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Authors
Rao, Suhas
Issue Date
2014-08
Type
Electronic thesis
Thesis
Thesis
Language
ENG
Keywords
Chemical and biological engineering
Alternative Title
Abstract
We report the design and synthesis of silica Janus motors via the Pickering emulsion method, using a naturally occurring enzyme, catalase, which catalyzes the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. Enzymes offer many benefits over conventional metal catalysts which are commonly used in Janus motors. They typically exhibit higher catalytic efficiencies which can also be tuned by adjusting environmental conditions such as pH, temperature, chemical activators/inhibitors and so on. Particle tracking experiments on the particles allowed us to probe the mechanisms by which these particles achieve propulsion. Since the eventual goal of this work is to test these particles as drug delivery agents, an in vitro 3D tumor spheroid model of breast cancer has also been developed using a metastatic breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231) and Collagen Type I as the extra-cellular matrix. This model was used to investigate the expression of an important cell surface biomarker, the transferrin receptor (TfR), which has been used previously to design particles for targeted therapy to tumors. The work presented here lays the foundation for the use of Janus motors as drug carriers which incorporate both an active enzyme as well as a targeting ligand such as Transferrin that can potentially overcome the transport barriers faced by conventional systems, and lead to improved therapies.
Description
August 2014
School of Engineering
School of Engineering
Full Citation
Publisher
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY