LipoFlash: A nanoparticle composed of bacterial lipoprotein LipoMetQ and Rose Bengal for photodynamic therapy

A major downside of common cancer therapies, such as chemotherapy, is their non-selective nature, which results in patients experiencing various negative symptoms, including nausea, hair loss, and fatigue. Nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems, such as liposomes and human apolipoproteins, can selectively deliver small-molecule therapeutics to target sites; however, the potential of bacterial lipoproteins as drug carriers remains largely unexplored. Bacterial lipoproteins offer a promising alternative due to their lower-cost formulation compared to other nanotechnologies. This study aims to determine the encapsulation efficiency of bacterial lipoproteins using Rose Bengal (RB), a fluorescent dye used in photodynamic therapy, as a model drug. Bacterial lipoproteins from Neisseria meningitidis were expressed in Escherichia coli and tested to quantify encapsulation efficiency. This research addresses the gap in studying bacterial lipoproteins as targeted drug delivery platforms. By addressing this gap, this research highlights bacterial lipoproteins as a potential low-cost alternative for targeted drug delivery. Future work will focus on optimizing encapsulation efficiency and assessing the clinical applicability of bacterial lipoproteins.