Novel bovine serum albumin-magnetite nanotorpedo system constructed for drug delivery

Team from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has designed a safe and efficient nanotorpedo for the delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs.

"This nanotorpedo integrates the advantages of inorganic nanocarrier and protein carriers, two important drug delivery systems," said Prof. Wang Junfeng, who led the team. A safe and efficient drug delivery system is one of the most promising means for tumor therapy and reducing toxic side effect.

Liposomal chemotherapy drug delivery has been applied in clinic in recent years. However, the poor stability of liposomal chemicals brings drug leakage in the blood circulation. The two drug delivery systems, inorganic nanocarriers and protein system still have their own limitations, typically the biological toxicity of inorganic nanoparticles and the low drug loading efficiency of protein carriers. Therefore, combining the superiority of inorganic nanoparticles and protein carriers is a feasible strategy to optimize the drug delivery system.

The nanotorpedo is composed of magnetite and doxorubicin (Dox) molecules encapsulated by a self-assembled nanocage of six bovine serum albumin (BSA) subunits. It effectively solved the leakage problem of hydrophobic drug molecules, and prolonged their half-life in blood circulation.

In vitro and in vivo experiments showed the superiority of this nanotorpedo in biosafety, stability, intracellular transport and tumor inhibition, presenting great prospects of drug delivery in the field of nanomedicine.

Image source: MA Kun.