E-beam crosslinked nanogels conjugated with monoclonal antibodies in targeting strategies

Poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone)-based-nanogels (NGs), produced by e-beam irradiation, are conjugated with monoclonal antibodies (mAb) for the development of an effective targeting purposes. The uptake of immuno-functionalized nanogels is tested in an endothelial cell line, ECV 304, using confocal and epifluorescence microscopy. Intracellular localization studies reveal a faster uptake of the immuno-nanogel complex with respect to the “bare” nanogel. The specific internalization pathway of these immuno-nanogels is clarified by selective endocytosis inhibition experiments, flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. Active targeting ability is also verified by conjugating a monoclonal antibody which recognizes the αvβ3 integrin on activated endothelial cells. Epifluorescence images of the “wound healing assay” on ECV304 cells reveals an exclusive localization of nanogels in the target cells. Thus, the immuno-nanogels have the potential to recognize specific cell types in a heterogeneous system, which makes them suitable for targeted drug delivery applications.