Monodisperse nanocarriers: novel fabrication of polymeric nanoparticles for bio-nanotechnology

The delivery of therapeutic, detection and imaging agents for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients has improved dramatically over the years with the development of nano-carriers such as liposomes, micelles, dendrimers, biomolecules, polymer particles, and colloidal precipitates. While many of these carriers have been used with great success in vitro and in vivo , each suffers from serious drawbacks with regard to stability, flexibility, or functionality. To date, there has been no general particle fabrication method available that afforded rigorous control over particle size, shape, composition, cargo and chemical structure. By utilizing the method we has designed referred to as P article R eplication I n N on-wetting T emplates, or PRINT , we can fabricate monodisperse particles with simultaneous control over structure ( i.e. shape, size, composition) and function ( i.e. cargo, surface structure). Unlike other particle fabrication techniques, PRINT is delicate and general enough to be compatible with a variety of important next-generation cancer therapeutic, detection and imaging agents, including various cargos (e.g. DNA, proteins, chemotherapy drugs, biosensor dyes, radio-markers, contrast agents), targeting ligands (e.g. antibodies, cell targeting peptides) and functional matrix materials (e.g. bioabsorbable polymers or stimuli responsive matrices). PRINT makes this possible by utilizing low-surface energy, chemically resistant fluoropolymers as molding materials and patterned substrates to produce functional, harvestable, monodisperse polymeric particles.