Engineering of Smart Nanocarriers for Biologics Delivery and Imaging in Cancer Therapy

ABSTRACT

Intensive research has been conducted on alternatives to conventional drug delivery systems (DDS) due to their limitations; such as non-specific distribution, uncontrolled release of drugs and poor bioavailability in the body. Utilizing nanotechnology in DDS has led to the development of smart nanocarriers that have shown promising results in achieving efficient delivery of drugs and other biomolecules with minimum side effects. The versatile nature of the nanocarriers renders them optimal for drug delivery in terms of size and tunable properties. They can be functionalized to achieve better targeting and improved therapeutic index. Therefore, smart nanocarriers are required to avoid multiple dosing and undesirable side effects that are accompanied by most anticancer drugs. The main objective of this thesis is to develop distinctive nanocarriers to efficiently deliver anticancer drugs or biomolecules such as proteins, nucleic acids or immune agents to cancer site. Working with different nanocarriers such as MOF (ZIF-8), polymers (TPE based), macrocycles (DPP based), and proteins (S-layer) gave great insight into how the physical and chemical properties can affect cytotoxicity, cellular uptake, and loading and release profile of each nanocarriers. In summary, we are still far from having an ideal carrier that surpasses viruses and other natural compounds; however, the more we mimic nature, the closer we get to the ideal carrier system