Correlation between assembly structure of a gamma irradiated albumin nanoparticle and its function as a drug delivery system

SIRI, MACARENA; SIRI, MACARENA; GRASSELLI, MARIANO; GRASSELLI, MARIANO; ALONSO, SILVIA DEL V.; ALONSO, SILVIA DEL V.

COLLOIDS AND SURFACES A-PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING ASPECTS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2020 vol. 603 p. 1 - 9

0927-7757

The present study correlates the structure of an albumin nanoparticle with its function as a drug delivery system. The albumin nanoparticle was created by a clean and size-controlled desolvation method in combination with gamma irradiation as a cross-linker. It is composed of 3950 albumin molecules with a molecular weight of 5.78E + 02 MDa and the binding between the albumin molecules creates new hydrophobic pockets. Our hypothesis was that the very assembly structure of the nanoparticle played a key role in making it a suitable drug delivery system. In order to study how the assembly of the nanoparticle enhanced its function as such, we used a hydrophobic drug, Emodin. The high affinity of the nanoparticle for the drug was studied with spectroscopy. We found that the nanoparticle´s many hydrophobic pockets improved the encapsulation efficiency of the system. In cell toxicity and haemolysis experiments, the nanoparticle´s toxicity levels were low. These results suggest that the nanoparticle has great potential as a drug delivery system.