Liposomes for Protein Drug Delivery in Cancer Treatment

Mor Goldfeder, Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
Hodaya Prinz, Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
Katya Gershovich, Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
Nitzan Krinsky, Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
Assaf Zinger, Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
Janna Shainsky, Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
Avi Schroeder, Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

Liposomes, vesicles with an internal aqueous core surrounded by a lipid bilayer/s, are widely used as drug carriers. They can be targeted to diseased tissues, including tumors and metastasis, and are used for tracking the biodistribution of drugs at real time. Protein based drugs such as monoclonal antibodies and immune checkpoint inhibitors, are revolutionizing agents for cancer therapy. Their great advantages are sensitivity, specificity and potentially lower resistance inducement. One of the great challenges in nanomedicine is loading proteins into drug delivery systems; obtaining high loading efficacy without affecting their therapeutic potency. We have been investigating the encapsulation of a number of protein drugs, including monoclonal antibodies, in order to develop efficient and potent drug delivery systems, especially for cancer treatment. For example, we have been developing protein producing particles for onsite drug delivery which are capable of autonomously synthesizing a protein drug. In addition, the encapsulation of sfGFP, for research and diagnostic purposes, has also been carried out. For both these examples a precise set of particle properties have been tailored to ensure maintenance of the protein's structural conformation and efficacy throughout the loading and release process. During these development processes a platform for protein drug encapsulation and delivery is being established.