Myriam Neumann
In order to successfully use a nanocarrier in the biomedical field, its stability, cargo loading and release properties must be thoroughly studied. My research project involved the synthesis of lipid-coated mesoporous silica nanocarriers (LC-MSNs) of different compositions and charges exhibiting good colloidal stability and engineered porosity (~8 nm) to accommodate large biomolecules (herein, GFP). We were interested in comparing these characteristics between the traditionally used physisorption versus chemisorption. The main objective consisted of the characterization of loading and controlled release of a cargo under influence of factors such as time, environmental medium, and the composition of the nanocarrier (MSN, cargo, lipid). These studies included in vitro testing as well as degradation studies of bare MSNs.
