Nanovault - red is drug, green is vault

All mammalian cells contain naturally occurring nanoparticles called “vaults” that resemble, in their lipid bilayer structure, artificial liposomes used in gene therapy delivery.  The difference is that vaults are nanoscale and liposomes are microscale.  Manufactured vaults have potential for drug delivery, and researchers at UCLA not only have made artificial vaults, but also have engineered nanodisks, carrying drug cargos, that can go inside the vaults and slowly release a small molecule drug to a specific cellular target.     MORE

Image Credit:   UCLA Researchers and Nanowerk.com