Transformable liquid-metal nanomedicine

Yue Lu, Quanyin Hu, Yiliang Lin, Dennis B. Pacardo, Chao Wang, Wujin Sun, Frances S. Ligler, Michael D. Dickey and Zhen Gu ()
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Yue Lu: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University
Quanyin Hu: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University
Yiliang Lin: North Carolina State University
Dennis B. Pacardo: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University
Chao Wang: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University
Wujin Sun: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University
Frances S. Ligler: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University
Michael D. Dickey: North Carolina State University
Zhen Gu: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract To date, numerous inorganic nanocarriers have been explored for drug delivery systems (DDSs). However, the clinical application of inorganic formulations has often been hindered by their toxicity and failure to biodegrade. We describe here a transformable liquid-metal nanomedicine, based on a core–shell nanosphere composed of a liquid-phase eutectic gallium-indium core and a thiolated polymeric shell. This formulation can be simply produced through a sonication-mediated method with bioconjugation flexibility. The resulting nanoparticles loaded with doxorubicin (Dox) have an average diameter of 107 nm and demonstrate the capability to fuse and subsequently degrade under a mildly acidic condition, which facilitates release of Dox in acidic endosomes after cellular internalization. Equipped with hyaluronic acid, a tumour-targeting ligand, this formulation displays enhanced chemotherapeutic inhibition towards the xenograft tumour-bearing mice. This liquid metal-based DDS with fusible and degradable behaviour under physiological conditions provides a new strategy for engineering theranostic agents with low toxicity.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10066

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