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Targeted delivery using peptide-functionalised gold nanoparticles to white adipose tissues of obese rats

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Abstract

Obesity is a complex metabolic disease of excessive fat accumulation. It is a worldwide epidemic affecting billions of people. Current pharmacological treatment of obesity remains limited and ineffective due to systemic drug toxicity and undesirable side effects. The current epidemic raises a serious need for development of safer drugs to treat obesity. Nanotechnology-based drug delivery system for administering pharmaceutical compound to achieve therapeutic effects is currently an exciting field in cancer treatment. Drug delivery involves either modification of drug release profile, absorption, distribution and/or elimination, for the benefit of improving drug efficacy and safety. Therefore, nanotechnology holds promise in the treatment of diseases including obesity. Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) functionalised with different biomolecules have been successfully used as drug delivery, labelling and imaging tools in biomedical research. In this study, the binding-specificity and targeting ability of adipose homing peptide (AHP)-functionalised GNPs (AHP-GNPs) were evaluated using flow cytometry and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy. Caco-2 cells and rats fed either chow or a high-fat diet were treated with either unfunctionalised GNPs or AHP-GNPs. Cellular uptake of GNPs was detected in cells treated with AHP-GNPs and not those treated with GNPs alone. Binding of AHP to cells was both temperature- and concentration-dependent. Compared to rats treated with GNPs alone, treatment of obese rats with AHP-GNPs resulted in the targeted delivery of the GNPs to the white adipose tissue (WAT). This paper reports the successful targeting of AHP-functionalised GNPs to WAT of obese rats.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by Grants from the South African Department of Science & Technology/Mintek Nanotechnology Innovation Centre, the South African National Research Foundation and the South African Medical Research Council.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Diabetes Research Group, Medical Research Council, Parow Valley, South Africa

    Ntevheleni Thovhogi, Nicole Sibuyi & Abram Madiehe

  2. Chemistry Department, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa

    Martin Onani

  3. Biotechnology Department, DST/Mintek Nanotechnology Innovation Centre, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa

    Ntevheleni Thovhogi, Nicole Sibuyi, Mervin Meyer & Abram Madiehe

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  1. Ntevheleni Thovhogi
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  2. Nicole Sibuyi
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  3. Mervin Meyer
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  4. Martin Onani
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  5. Abram Madiehe
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Correspondence to Abram Madiehe.

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Thovhogi, N., Sibuyi, N., Meyer, M. et al. Targeted delivery using peptide-functionalised gold nanoparticles to white adipose tissues of obese rats. J Nanopart Res 17, 112 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-015-2904-x

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