Drug particle delivers insulin on demand
From Boston, at a meeting of the Materials Research Society
Chemical engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed injectable polymer particles that can store and release insulin in the body in response to changes in blood-glucose concentrations.
The particles are crafted from the polymer dextran, a sugar-binding protein, and insulin. Mixed together, the materials self-assemble into tiny, insulin-loaded particles.
Put into a glucose solution, the particles partially dissolved, releasing some insulin. Coinvestigator Todd Zion attributes this to a competition between sugar molecules in dextran and the glucose in the solution to bind with the protein molecules. When the concentration of glucose in solution decreased, the particles stopped releasing insulin.