Large-scale manufacturing of radiation sculptured therapeutic nanogels

Pulsed electron-beam irradiation of poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) aqueous solutions, at relatively low energy per pulse and doses within the sterilization dose range, has led to a variety of PVP nanogels of controlled size, that can be simultaneously grafted with a variety of functional monomers. Their crosslinked cores and multibranched arms with pendant carboxyl or amino groups ensure colloidal stability in a wide range of pHs and amenability to conjugation with fluorescent probes, ligands of specific cell receptors, such as short peptides, antibodies or oligonucleotides, and different type of therapeutics. Nanogels were proved to be not cytotoxic or genotoxic at the cellular level. Indeed, they showed good affinity for cells, as they rapidly and quantitatively bypass the cellular compartments, to accumulate in specific cell portions, then being completely released from the cells within 24 h