Exploring the stability of polyethylene glycol functionalized nanoparticles in angiogenic blood vessels
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2018-09-06
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Abstract
Research into the stability of liposomes as nanocarriers or nanoparticles (NPs) is well justified during an era where there is emerging research on drug delivery especially with respect to cancer. Nanoparticles face different barriers to reach their targets within a living organism which can potentially affect their stability. In this thesis, we used a systematic approach to introduce a series of liposomes (whose surfaces are partially coated with poly-ethylene glycol (PEG)) into a chicken embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). The CAM was the model of choice as it is mimetic of the angiogenic vasculature present in cancerous tumors. There are fenestrations in these blood vessel walls through which NPs can pass to the tumor mass. Fluorescent liposomes were synthesized by lacing with a dye and using different proportions (2.5, 5 and 10% of the total lipid content) of PEGylated lipids (1, 2 dioleyl-sn-glcero-3phophoethanolamine-N-[Methoxy (Polyethylene glycol)-“1000, 2000 & 5000”] with molecular weights of 1000, 2000 and 5000 dalton (Da). After injection into the CAM, the time dependent behaviour is monitored using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. The NPs were observed to agglomerate in the blood vessels. Thus, the NPs were subsequently characterized in chicken blood serum and phosphate buffered saline to ascertain the possibility of there being ionic and protein effects on the particle stability.
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Sagoe, V. A. N. (2018). Exploring the stability of polyethylene glycol functionalized nanoparticles in angiogenic blood vessels (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/32908