Ferritin is one of the most promising drug delivery system (DDS) carriers because of its uniform nanosize, biodistribution, efficient cellular uptake, and biocompatibility. Conventionally, a disassembly/reassembly method that requires pH change has been used for the encapsulation of molecules in ferritin protein nanocages. Recently, a one-step method in which a complex of ferritin and a targeted drug was obtained by incubating the mixture at an appropriate pH, was established. Here, we describe two types of protocols, the conventional disassembly/reassembly method, and the novel one-step method for the construction of a ferritin-encapsulated drug using doxorubicin as an example molecule.
Keywords: Cancer chemotherapy; Doxorubicin; Drug delivery system; Ferritin; Nanomedicine; Protein cage; Protein purification; Tumor.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.