Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 31, 2025
10:50
Nanosensors to Detect Protease Activity In Vivo for Noninvasive Diagnostics
Published on: July 16, 2018
16.8K
Protease Responsive Essential Amino-Acid Based Nanocarriers for Near-Infrared Imaging.
Anshu Kumari1, Kalpana Kumari1, Sharad Gupta2,3
1Discipline of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Simrol, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, 453552, India.
Scientific Reports
|January 1, 2020
Summary
Poly-L-lysine (PLL) nanoparticles effectively encapsulate and deliver the contrast agent indocyanine green (ICG). These biocompatible nanocarriers show enhanced cellular uptake and controlled release, improving theranostic agent delivery.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Drug Delivery Systems
Background:
- Effective delivery of theranostic agents to target sites remains a significant challenge in disease management.
- Nanotechnology offers promising solutions for targeted delivery of diagnostic and therapeutic agents.
- Biocompatible and biodegradable nanoparticles (NPs) synthesized from amino-acid-based homopolymers are potential nanocarriers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To fabricate poly-L-lysine (PLL) based nanoparticles (NPs) for the delivery of exogenous contrast agents.
- To encapsulate indocyanine green (ICG) within PLL NPs using a green chemistry-based self-assembly process.
- To characterize the NPs and evaluate their in vitro performance for enhanced delivery efficiency.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of NPs using poly-L-lysine (PLL) and salts via a two-step green chemistry self-assembly process.
- Morphological and biochemical characterization of the synthesized ICG-encapsulating PLL NPs.
- In vitro studies to assess controlled release kinetics and cellular uptake efficiency.
Main Results:
- Formation of spherical PLL NPs encapsulating indocyanine green (ICG) with an average diameter of ~225 nm was confirmed.
- Controlled release of ICG from PLL NPs was observed in the presence of a proteolytic enzyme.
- In vitro cellular studies demonstrated superior delivery efficiency of ICG via PLL NPs compared to free ICG, with high cellular uptake.
Conclusions:
- Poly-L-lysine (PLL) based nanoparticles are effective nanocarriers for theranostic agents like indocyanine green (ICG).
- The green chemistry-based self-assembly method yields biocompatible and biodegradable NPs with controlled release capabilities.
- These PLL NPs show significant potential for improving the targeted delivery and cellular uptake of contrast agents in theranostic applications.
