Preview
Creation Date
4-24-2025
Description
Cucurbit[n]urils, i.e. Cb[n], is a series of macrocycles that form a ringlike structure and have the unique property of being water soluble on the outside and organic on the inside. These properties allow for potential use in the application of a delivery vessel for medications via the drug delivery system. Cb[n] currently shows potential in stabilizing API’s and can reduce their side effects. However, several factors need to be overcome and further researched before this molecule is ready for use within humans. The major shortcoming of this compound is that Cb[n] is only slightly soluble in aqueous solutions. This could present a problem in allowing medications to be absorbed in the appropriate dosage. One way to potentially get around this lack of solubility is to modify the Cb[n] synthetically to change the structure and improve solubility. The goal of this research is to see if the addition of amino acids, specifically Arginylglycylaspartic acid (RGD) will improve the solubility of Cb[n] and increase the accuracy of drug delivery in the body. These amino acids are capable of recognizing the receptors of where drugs need to be delivered. The attachment of RGD could potentially be done by a PEG groups, acting as a “lasso”, for solubility and would contain the binding moiety needed for drug targeting. In this research the effectiveness of these synthetic additions would be explored to see if they increase the drug delivery accuracy and overall solubility of Cb[n].
Keywords
SWOSU Research Fair, Research and Scholarly Activity Fair, Scholarly Activity, Research, Student Research, Research Fair