Lactoferrin conjugated gold nanoparticle for targeted oral delivery system to glioblastoma

Abstract

Gold nanoparticle as a therapeutic delivery carrier has been reported in various application due to its physical property which is high affinity of thiol group. If gold nanoparticle can be orally absorbed,its application may be extended. Unfortunately, it has low absorption efficiency from the gastrointestinal (GI) tract to blood stream. Therefore, to overcome these limitation orally, here i newly synthesized lactoferrin-conjugated gold nanoparticles (AuNP). In general, lactoferrin receptor is highly expressed on the small intestinal epithelial cell. So, i adapted nano-sized AuNP modified with the lactoferrin, glutathione and poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) for preparation of long-circulating AuNP with improved half-life. I evaluated the physicochemical properties of lactoferrin-conjugated AuNP with ICP-MS, HR-TEM, UV-Vis spectrophotometer and so on. When lactoferrin-conjugated AuNP were orally administered into the mice, I determined high concentration of lactoferrin-conjugated AuNP in bloodstream, which was quantitatively measured by ICP-MS. However, in the case of oral administration of AuNP with lactoferrin conjugation, lower amount of them was detected. Interestingly,it is known that glioblastoma in brain cancer highly express lactoferrin receptor. Therefore, it is possible that the orally absorbed lactoferrin-conjugated AuNP can be targeted to the glioblastoma.