Abstract
In this thesis, using RBC-derived vesicles (RDVs) as nanocarriers, we seek to explore the possibilities of 1) drug delivery through blood-brain-barrier (BBB) and 2) delivering gold nanoparticles into cancer cells for photothermal therapy (PTT). From the representative donor in this thesis, RDVs can be easily observed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). By dynamic light scattering (DLS) determination, the size distribution of RDVs is ranging from 150 to 300 nm and the mean diameter is 274.9 nm. To explore the possibility of drug delivery through BBB, a hydrophilic fluorescein, 5-carboxyfluorescein (CF), is employed as the encapsulated cargo. Our results demonstrate that CF can be efficiently encapsulated inside RDVs. However, CF-encapsulated RDVs cannot cross the epithelial MDCK cell layer suggesting the incapability of RDVs for delivering drugs through BBB. For PTT study, gold nanoaprticles (AuNPs) are synthesized using HAuCl4 in organic phase and then surface-modified with Mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA), which shows a mean diameter of 6 nm. By TEM observation, AuNPs are indeed encapsulated into RDVs. The encapsulating efficiency is about 1,640 ng Au per 100 ug RDVs. The results of ICP-MS show that the cellular uptake of AuNPs via the encapsulation with RDVs is time- and cell type-dependent. The data suggest the possibility of delivering gold nanoparticles specifically into cancer cells for PTT.