Chiral Graphene Quantum Dots Enhanced Drug Loading into Small Extracellular Vesicles

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Nanotechnology
• Drug Delivery

Background:

• Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) are promising nanocarriers for targeted drug delivery.
• Current methods for loading drugs into sEVs face challenges in efficiency and broad applicability.
• Overcoming drug loading limitations is crucial for advancing sEV-based therapeutics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a drug-agnostic platform for efficient loading of various drugs into sEVs.
• To utilize chiral graphene quantum dots (GQDs) for enhanced sEV drug encapsulation.
• To overcome existing limitations in sEV drug loading for clinical translation.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of chiral graphene quantum dots (GQDs) designed for chirality matching with the sEV lipid bilayer.
• Functionalization or adsorption of hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs onto GQDs via π-π stacking and van der Waals interactions.
• Optimization of GQD ligands and size to enhance chirality for improved drug loading.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated a drug-agnostic sEV-loading platform using chiral GQDs.
• Achieved high drug loading efficiencies: 66.3% for doxorubicin and 64.1% for siRNA.
• Exhibited significantly higher loading efficiencies compared to existing sEV loading techniques.

Conclusions:

• The chiral GQD platform offers a versatile and efficient method for sEV drug loading.
• This approach addresses key challenges hindering the clinical application of sEV drug delivery systems.
• The developed platform holds significant potential for advancing targeted therapeutics using sEVs.