Long Dingpei, Yang Chunhua, Sung Junsik, Merlin Didier
Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Center for Diagnostics and Therapeutics, Digestive Disease Research Group, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Decatur, GA, USA.
Bio Protoc. 2021 Apr 5;11(7):e3969. doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.3969.
We have demonstrated that a specific population of ginger-derived nanoparticles (GDNP-2) could effectively target the colon, reduce colitis, and alleviate colitis-associated colon cancer. Naturally occurring GDNP-2 contains complex bioactive components, including lipids, proteins, miRNAs, and ginger secondary metabolites (gingerols and shogaols). To construct a nanocarrier that is more clearly defined than GDNP-2, we isolated lipids from GDNP-2 and demonstrated that they could self-assemble into ginger lipid-derived nanoparticles (GLDNP) in an aqueous solution. GLDNP can be used as a nanocarrier to deliver drug candidates such as 6-shogaol or its metabolites (M2 and M13) to the colon. To characterize the nanostructure of GLDNP, our lab extensively used atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique as a tool for visualizing the morphology of the drug-loaded GLDNP. Herein, we provide a detailed protocol for demonstrating such a process.
我们已经证明，特定群体的生姜衍生纳米颗粒（GDNP-2）可以有效地靶向结肠，减轻结肠炎，并缓解与结肠炎相关的结肠癌。天然存在的GDNP-2含有复杂的生物活性成分，包括脂质、蛋白质、微小RNA和生姜次生代谢产物（姜辣素和姜烯酚）。为了构建一种比GDNP-2定义更明确的纳米载体，我们从GDNP-2中分离出脂质，并证明它们可以在水溶液中自组装成生姜脂质衍生纳米颗粒（GLDNP）。GLDNP可以用作纳米载体，将药物候选物如6-姜烯酚或其代谢产物（M2和M13）递送至结肠。为了表征GLDNP的纳米结构，我们实验室广泛使用原子力显微镜（AFM）技术作为可视化载药GLDNP形态的工具。在此，我们提供了一个展示此过程的详细方案。
