High drug-loading gold nanoclusters for responsive glucose control in type 1 diabetes.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Diabetes is one of the biggest medical challenges worldwide. The key to efficiently treat type 1 diabetes is to accurately inject insulin according to the blood glucose levels. In this study, we aimed to develop an intelligent insulin-releasing gold nanocluster system that responds to environmental glucose concentrations.

RESULTS:

We employed gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) as a novel carrier nanomaterial by taking advantage of their high drug-loading capacity. We prepared AuNCs in the protection of bovine serum albumin, and we decorated AuNCs with 3-aminophenylboronic acid (PBA) as a glucose-responsive factor. Then we grafted insulin onto the surface to obtain the glucose-responsive insulin-releasing system, AuNC-PBA-Ins complex. The AuNC-PBA-Ins complex exhibited high sensitivity to glucose concentration, and rapidly released insulin in high glucose concentration in vitro. In the type 1 diabetic mouse model in vivo, the AuNC-PBA-Ins complex effectively released insulin and regulated blood glucose level in the normoglycemic state for up to 3 days.

CONCLUSIONS:

We successfully developed a phenylboronic acid-functionalized gold nanocluster system (AuNC-PBA-Ins) for responsive insulin release and glucose regulation in type 1 diabetes. This nanocluster system mimics the function of blood glucose regulation of pancreas in the body and may have potential applications in the theranostics of diabetes.

• Authors: Yujie Zhang, Mingxin Wu, Wubin Dai, Min Chen, Zhaoyang Guo, Xin Wang, Di Tan, Kui Shi, Longjian Xue, Sheng Liu, Yifeng Lei
• Journal: Journal of nanobiotechnology (J Nanobiotechnology) Vol. 17 Issue 1 Pg. 74 (Jun 03 2019) ISSN: 1477-3155 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 31159842 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Blood Glucose
• Boronic Acids
• Hypoglycemic Agents
• Insulin
• Serum Albumin, Bovine
• 3-aminobenzeneboronic acid
• Gold

Topics

• Animals
• Blood Glucose (analysis)
• Boronic Acids (chemistry)
• Cattle
• Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 (drug therapy)
• Gold (chemistry)
• Hypoglycemic Agents (administration & dosage, chemistry)
• Insulin (administration & dosage, chemistry)
• Male
• Metal Nanoparticles (chemistry)
• Mice, Inbred C57BL
• Serum Albumin, Bovine (chemistry)