Jeffrey L. Turner

Folic acid-conjugated nanostructured materials designed for cancer cell targeting

Shell cross-linked nanoparticles (SCKs) constitute a unique class of materials with amphiphilic core-shell morphology; SCKs are characterised by their structural integrity and available functionality to attach receptor-recognising or receptor-specific ligands on the shell surface and, therefore, hold great potential in drug delivery applications; in an attempt to develop novel, cancer cell specific delivery vehicles, folate receptor targeted SCKs have been prepared.

PNA-directed solution- and surface-assembly of shell crosslinked (SCK) nanoparticle conjugates

The conjugation of complementary peptide nucleic acid (PNA) sequences to well defined shell crosslinked (SCK) nanoparticles is reported as a mechanism by which to direct their self assembly into higher order structures selective and tunable binding interactions. Base-pairing-driven aggregation of the SCKs occurred for mixtures of SCKs that presented complementary sequences in aqueous sodium chloride solutions and upon mica substrates. The assembly processes were monitored by dynamic light scattering and atomic force microscopy as a function of salt concentration, and by UV-vis spectroscopy as a function of salt concentration and temperature. Moreover, the stoichiometries of the PNA sequences conjugated per SCK nanoparticle and the stoichiometric ratios in the production of mixtures of SCKs bearing complementary PNA sequences were each altered to tune the hierarchical assemblies.