Title |
Delivery of therapeutic agents by nanoparticles made of grapefruit-derived lipids
|
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Published in |
Nature Communications, May 2013
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DOI | 10.1038/ncomms2886 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Qilong Wang, Xiaoying Zhuang, Jingyao Mu, Zhong-Bin Deng, Hong Jiang, Lifeng Zhang, Xiaoyu Xiang, Baomei Wang, Jun Yan, Donald Miller, Huang-Ge Zhang |
Abstract |
Although the use of nanotechnology for the delivery of a wide range of medical treatments has potential to reduce adverse effects associated with drug therapy, tissue-specific delivery remains challenging. Here we show that nanoparticles made of grapefruit-derived lipids, which we call grapefruit-derived nanovectors, can deliver chemotherapeutic agents, short interfering RNA, DNA expression vectors and proteins to different types of cells. We demonstrate the in vivo targeting specificity of grapefruit-derived nanovectors by co-delivering therapeutic agents with folic acid, which in turn leads to significantly increasing targeting efficiency to cells expressing folate receptors. The therapeutic potential of grapefruit-derived nanovectors was further demonstrated by enhancing the chemotherapeutic inhibition of tumour growth in two tumour animal models. Grapefruit-derived nanovectors are less toxic than nanoparticles made of synthetic lipids and, when injected intravenously into pregnant mice, do not pass the placental barrier, suggesting that they may be a useful tool for drug delivery. |
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Demographic breakdown
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Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
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Japan | 1 | <1% |
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Russia | 1 | <1% |
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Demographic breakdown
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Researcher | 38 | 15% |
Student > Master | 33 | 13% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 15 | 6% |
Student > Bachelor | 15 | 6% |
Other | 29 | 11% |
Unknown | 72 | 28% |
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Chemistry | 13 | 5% |
Other | 48 | 18% |
Unknown | 90 | 35% |