UC San Diego

Nanobowls are nanoparticles that have a bowl-like structure that allow drugs to be loaded inside and onto for therapeutic uses. However, in the field of drug delivery today, there are a lot of limiting factors that obstruct the efficiency and efficacy of the system. The downside to general injections is that you cannot control where the drug goes after injecting. The drug can freely flow wherever in the body resulting in unwanted side effects in certain areas of the body not associated with the injured area. One solution we came up with was to make a stable nanocarrier as a transportation mechanism for localized injection. We designed nanobowls from Silica (SiO2) and Polystyrene (PS) to be loaded with drugs inside and around the cavity. SEM and TEM images were taken to verify the formation of the nanobowls at each step. A heat sensitive polymer (NIPAM) was used as the outermost coat in order to establish the desired on and off release. In order to verify release, absorbance and fluorescence tests were performed on a plate reader and fluorescent microscopy was also done. In collaboration with Dr. Wu’s lab, I focused on trying to design nanobowls that could achieve reliable on and off release to deliver ꞵNGF (Beta Neural Growth Factor) to treat Parkinson’s Disease in the peripheral nervous system.