Abstract

Nano-drug delivery system (NDDS) has attracted widespread attention for their controlled drug release. In this work, keratin nanoparticles (KNPs) were prepared by self-crosslinking. No toxic chemical crosslinkers were added in the whole procedure. The morphology and size of KNPs were tested by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS), respectively. The KNPs exhibited GSH and pH dual responsiveness as well as charge conversion, which were beneficial to tumor therapy. In addition, the anticancer drug of doxorubicin (DOX) could be loaded on KNPs by hydrophobicity and hydrogen bonds. The drug-loaded keratin nanoparticles (KDNPs) accelerated drug release under mimicked tumor microenvironments. In addition, KDNPs could effectively inhibit tumor cell growth while performing low toxicity on normal cells. Moreover, KDNPs could be uptaken by tumor cells through endocytosis. Based on the results, keratin-based nanoparticles were suitable candidates for drug microcarriers.

摘要

纳米药物递送系统（NDDS）因其可控的药物释放而受到广泛关注。在这项工作中，角蛋白纳米粒子 (KNPs) 通过自交联制备。整个过程没有添加有毒化学交联剂。分别通过透射电子显微镜 (TEM) 和动态光散射 (DLS) 测试 KNPs 的形态和尺寸。KNPs表现出GSH和pH双重响应以及电荷转换，有利于肿瘤治疗。此外，抗癌药物阿霉素 (DOX) 可以通过疏水性和氢键负载在 KNPs 上。载药角蛋白纳米颗粒 (KDNPs) 在模拟肿瘤微环境下加速药物释放。此外，KDNPs 可以有效抑制肿瘤细胞生长，同时对正常细胞具有低毒性。而且，KDNPs 可以通过内吞作用被肿瘤细胞摄取。基于结果，基于角蛋白的纳米粒子是药物微载体的合适候选者。