Preparation and size control of sub-100 nm pure nanodrugs

Jinfeng Zhang, Yanan Li, Fei Fei An, Xiaohong Zhang*, Xianfeng Chen, Chun Sing Lee

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

89 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Pure nanodrugs (PNDs), nanoparticles consisting entirely of drug molecules, have been considered as promising candidates for next-generation nanodrugs. However, the traditional preparation method via reprecipitation faces critical challenges including low production rates, relatively large particle sizes, and batch-to-batch variations. Here, for the first time, we successfully developed a novel, versatile, and controllable strategy for preparing PNDs via an anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) template-assisted method. With this approach, we prepared PNDs of an anticancer drug (VM-26) with precisely controlled sizes reaching the sub-20 nm range. This template-assisted approach has much higher feasibility for mass production comparing to the conventional reprecipitation method and is beneficial for future clinical translation. The present method is further demonstrated to be easily applicable for a wide range of hydrophobic biomolecules without the need of custom molecular modifications and can be extended for preparing all-in-one nanostructures with different functional agents.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)313-318
Number of pages6
JournalNano Letters
Volume15
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 Jan 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Drug delivery
  • mass production
  • pure nanodrugs
  • size control
  • template

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