Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

This paper discribes a synthetic low density lipoprotein (LDL) made by complexing a 29 amino acid that consists of a lipid binding domain and the LDL receptor binding domain with a lipid microemulsion. The nano-LDL particles were intermdiate in size between LDL and HDL and bound to LDL receptors on GBM brain tumor cells. Synthetic nano-LDL uptake by GBM cells was LDL receptor specific and dependent on cell receptor number. It is suggested that these synthetic particles can serve as a delivery vehicle for hydophobic anti-tumor drugs by targeting the LDL receptor.