Bio-functionalisation of polyelectrolyte microcapsules with biotinylated poly (ethylene glycol)- grafted liposomes for application in targeted drug delivery

Progress in chemistry and biotechnology allowed the development of nanoengineered delivery systems that can encapsulate a wide variety of novel therapeutics such as proteins, chemotherapeutics, and nucleic acids. It is always interesting to functionalize the delivery systems to be “intelligent” and multi-functional, such that they can avoid the uptake by macrophages and deliver their payload at a specific position, e.g. target to a pathogen tissue. Polyelectrolyte capsules, made by layer-by-layer (LbL) coating of a sacrificial template followed by dissolution of the template, have been studied intensively as potential drug delivery carriers. LbL techniques allow the design of microcapsules using simple building blocks and assembly procedures, and provide a previously unmet control over the functionality of the microcapsules. This project was aimed to develop novel multi-functional polyelectrolyte capsules (PEMC) as targeted drug carriers using LbL techniques.DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (SCBE