Gelatin Nanoparticle Systems for Drug and Gene Delivery

Gelatin nanoparticles represent a versatile class of biodegradable carriers derived from collagen hydrolysate, combining inherent biocompatibility with tunable physicochemical properties. Their preparation by desolvation, coacervation, nanoprecipitation or emulsion techniques allows control over particle size, surface charge and porosity, thereby influencing drug loading, release kinetics and cellular uptake. Surface functionalisation with cationic polymers or targeting ligands can enhance nucleic acid binding and transfection efficiency for gene delivery, while optimisation of crosslinking density modulates stability under physiological conditions. Gelatin’s abundant functional groups permit covalent or ionic conjugation of diverse payloads—from small molecules to antibodies and oligonucleotides—supporting applications in oncology, immunotherapy and infectious disease. The ease of scale-up, low immunogenicity and capacity for co-loading of hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds further underpin its global significance as a platform for next-generation therapeutics.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Innovative self-assembly under infrared irradiation has enabled the synthesis of gelatin nanoparticles loaded with a platinum chemotherapeutic, yielding size-tunable carriers that enhance cytotoxicity in colon cancer cells while reducing toxicity to normal endothelium. These light-assisted nanoparticles demonstrate improved drug entrapment and apoptotic induction without promoting multidrug resistance. In a foundational study of flavonoid delivery, gelatin cores were engineered to co-adsorb both low- and high-molecular-weight polyphenols, achieving over 90% entrapment efficiency and sustained structural stability under acidic conditions. This co-loading strategy highlights gelatin’s capacity to protect labile bioactives at ambient temperature for extended periods, broadening the scope of nutraceutical and anticancer applications.

Gelatin Nanoparticle Systems for Drug and Gene Delivery publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in gelatin nanoparticle systems for drug and gene delivery across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Desolvation: Precipitation of gelatin by addition of a poor solvent to induce nanoparticle formation.

Coacervation: Phase separation of charged gelatin chains to produce colloidal droplets for encapsulation.

Entrapment efficiency: Proportion of administered drug or gene successfully incorporated within nanoparticles.

Polydispersity index (PDI): Measure of the distribution of particle sizes within a sample, indicating uniformity.

Hydrodynamic diameter: Apparent particle size measured by dynamic light scattering in suspension.

Surface functionalisation: Chemical or physical modification of nanoparticle surfaces to add targeting or stabilising moieties.

References

1. Current Trends in Gelatin-Based Drug Delivery Systems. Pharmaceutics (2023).
2. Unraveling the Formation of Gelatin Nanospheres by Means of Desolvation. Nano Letters (2023).
3. Highly Efficient Intracellular Protein Delivery by Cationic Polyethyleneimine-Modified Gelatin Nanoparticles. Materials (2018).
4. Surface Modification of Gelatin Nanoparticles with Polyethylenimine as Gene Vector. Journal of Nanomaterials (2011).
5. Preparation and characterization of general-purpose gelatin-based co-loading flavonoids nano-core structure. Scientific Reports (2019).
6. Design and Characterization of Surface‐Crosslinked Gelatin Nanoparticles for the Delivery of Hydrophilic Macromolecular Drugs. Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics (2019).
7. Evaluation of anticancer effects of carboplatin–gelatin nanoparticles in different sizes synthesized with newly self-assembly method by exposure to IR light. Scientific Reports (2022).