Protein Nanocarriers Capable of Encapsulating Both Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Drugs.

Abstract

Protein nanoparticles are promising targeted drug delivery carriers due to their low toxicity, biodegradability, and abundance of proteins in natural sources. Also, protein nanoparticles enable surface modification with other functional proteins or carbohydrate ligands, which improves the efficacy of targeted drug delivery. Nonetheless, a persistent challenge remains to make versatile protein nanoparticles that deliver diverse types of drugs in a wide range of water solubility. Herein, we describe the methods to fabricate nanoparticles made from bovine serum albumin (BSA) that allow for the encapsulation of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic drug molecules, doxorubicin and bilirubin, respectively.