Step and Flash Imprint Lithography for the Fabrication of Shape-specific, Enzymatically-triggered, Drug Nanocarrier

摘要

Current concepts in the synthesis of nanocarriers involve the use of polymers or lipids to fabricate self-assembled or emulsion-based particles that are spherical, nolydisperse, and release drugs through diffusion or hydrolysis. Top-down nanoimprinting techniques allows high-throughput fabrication of nanoparticles of precise iieometries (shape and size), The ability to manipulate ueometry and composition of nanoscale carriers is essential tor controlling their in-vivo transport, bio-distribution, and release mechanism. Our objective is to fabricate nionodisperse, shape-specific, biodegradable nanocarriers with an environmentally sensitive component incorporated into the polymer network using nanoimprint lithography. In this way, drugs can be released from the nanocarriers in the presence of an environmental signal, We have generated uniform nanocarriers sub-50nm in size and also demon'-trate encapsulation and controlled release from (hese nanoparticles.