Microfluidic-assisted fabrication of phosphatidylcholine-based liposomes for controlled drug delivery of chemotherapeutics

Innovative Pharmaceutical Techniques for Paediatric Dosage Forms: A Systematic Review on 3D Printing, Prilling/Vibration and Microfluidic Platform

The production of paediatric pharmaceutical forms represents a unique challenge within the pharmaceutical industry. The primary goal of these formulations is to ensure therapeutic efficacy, safety, and tolerability in paediatric patients, who have specific physiological needs and characteristics. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in attention towards this area, driven by the need to improve drug administration to children and ensure optimal and specific treatments. Technological innovation has played a crucial role in meeting these requirements, opening new frontiers in the design and production of paediatric pharmaceutical forms. In particular, three emerging technologies have garnered considerable interest and attention within the scientific and industrial community: 3D printing, prilling/vibration, and microfluidics. These technologies offer advanced approaches for the design, production, and customization of paediatric pharmaceutical forms, allowing for more precise dosage modulation, improved solubility, and greater drug acceptability. In this review, we delve into these cutting-edge technologies and their impact on the production of paediatric pharmaceutical forms. We analyse their potential, associated challenges, and recent developments, providing a comprehensive overview of the opportunities that these innovative methodologies offer to the pharmaceutical sector. We examine different pharmaceutical forms generated using these techniques, evaluating their advantages and disadvantages.

Microfluidic Fabricated Liposomes for Nutlin-3a Ocular Delivery as Potential Candidate for Proliferative Vitreoretinal Diseases Treatment

Purpose

Proliferative vitreoretinal diseases (PVDs) represent a heterogeneous group of pathologies characterized by the presence of retinal proliferative membranes, in whose development retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is deeply involved. As the only effective treatment for PVDs at present is surgery, we aimed to investigate the potential therapeutic activity of Nutlin-3a, a small non-genotoxic inhibitor of the MDM2/p53 interaction, on ARPE-19 cell line and on human RPE primary cells, as in vitro models of RPE and, more importantly, to formulate and evaluate Nutlin-3a loaded liposomes designed for ophthalmic administration.

Methods

Liposomes were produced using an innovative approach by a microfluidic device under selection of different conditions. Liposome size distribution was evaluated by photon correlation spectroscopy and centrifugal field flow fractionation, while the liposome structure was studied by transmission electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The Nutlin-3a entrapment capacity was evaluated by ultrafiltration and HPLC. Nutlin-3a biological effectiveness as a solution or loaded in liposomes was evaluated by viability, proliferation, apoptosis and migration assays and by morphological analysis.

Results

The microfluidic formulative study enabled the selection of liposomes composed of phosphatidylcholine (PC) 5.4 or 8.2 mg/mL and 10% ethanol, characterized by roundish vesicular structures with 150-250 nm mean diameters. Particularly, liposomes based on the lower PC concentration were characterized by higher stability. Nutlin-3a was effectively encapsulated in liposomes and was able to induce a significant reduction of viability and migration in RPE cell models.

Conclusion

Our results lay the basis for a possible use of liposomes for the ocular delivery of Nutlin-3a.

Enhanced sensitivity in Staphylococcus aureus detection: Unveiling the impact of lipid composition on the performance of carboxyfluorescein (CF)-Loaded liposome-based assay

Liposomes have emerged as versatile nanocarriers, finding applications not only in drug delivery but also in pathogen detection and diagnostics. This study aimed to enhance the sensitivity of liposomes to Staphylococcus aureus by investigating the impact of lipid composition on liposomes loaded with 5(6)-carboxyfluorescein (CF). Liposomes were fabricated using various concentrations of cholesterol (10-40 mol%) combined with saturated phospholipids. Dynamic light scattering results revealed that higher cholesterol concentrations led to reduced liposome size, CF release (%), and entrapment efficiency (%). Liposome sensitivity towards S. aureus was evaluated by using CF-loaded liposomes with and without aptamer insertion. Liposomes with a higher cholesterol content (40 mol%) exhibited a strong ability to detect low bacterial concentrations down to 5 × 102 CFU/mL without relying solely on specific receptor-ligand recognition. However, functionalizing the liposome with an aptamer further improved the specificity and sensitivity of S. aureus detection at even lower concentrations, down to 80 CFU/mL, in the wide range of 80-107 CFU/mL. This study highlights the potential for optimizing the lipid composition of liposomes to improve their sensitivity for pathogen detection, particularly when combined with aptamer-based strategies.

Chemistry and Art of Developing Lipid Nanoparticles for Biologics Delivery: Focus on Development and Scale-Up

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have gained prominence as primary carriers for delivering a diverse array of therapeutic agents. Biological products have achieved a solid presence in clinical settings, and the anticipation of creating novel variants is increasing. These products predominantly encompass therapeutic proteins, nucleic acids and messenger RNA. The advancement of efficient LNP-based delivery systems for biologics that can overcome their limitations remains a highly favorable formulation strategy. Moreover, given their small size, biocompatibility, and biodegradation, LNPs can proficiently transport therapeutic moiety into the cells without significant toxicity and adverse reactions. This is especially crucial for the existing and upcoming biopharmaceuticals since large molecules as a group present several challenges that can be overcome by LNPs. This review describes the LNP technology for the delivery of biologics and summarizes the developments in the chemistry, manufacturing, and characterization of lipids used in the development of LNPs for biologics. Finally, we present a perspective on the potential opportunities and the current challenges pertaining to LNP technology.

Advances in liposome-based delivery of RNA therapeutics for cancer treatment

Liposomal drug delivery systems stand as versatile therapeutic platforms for precisely targeting related elements in cancerous tissues owing to their intrinsic passive and acquired active targeting capabilities and exceptional compatibility with physiologic environments. When the capacity of liposomes as nanocarriers is combined with the revolutionary potential of RNA therapies in affecting undruggable targets, the outcome would be promising drug candidates as game-changers in the cancer treatment arena. However, optimizing liposome composition, physicochemical properties, and surface chemistry is paramount to maximizing their pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic attributes. This review highlighted the potential of liposomes as nanovehicles for RNA therapeutics through a literature review and looked at the most recent preclinical and clinical advancements in utilizing liposomal RNA therapeutics for cancer management. Notably, the discovery of novel targets, advancements in liposome engineering, and organizing well-planned clinical trials would help uncover the incredible potential of these nanotherapeutics in cancer patients.

Microfluidics-mediated Liposomal Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy: Recent Developments on Advanced Devices and Technologies

Liposomes, spherical particles with phospholipid double layers, have been extensively studied over the years as a means of drug administration. Conventional manufacturing techniques like thin-film hydration and extrusion have limitations in controlling liposome size and distribution. Microfluidics enables superior tuning of parameters during the self-assembly of liposomes, producing uniform populations. This review summarizes microfluidic methods for engineering liposomes, including hydrodynamic flow focusing, jetting, micro mixing, and double emulsions. The precise control over size and lamellarity afforded by microfluidics has advantages for cancer therapy. Liposomes created through microfluidics and designed to encapsulate chemotherapy drugs have exhibited several advantageous properties in cancer treatment. They showcase enhanced permeability and retention effects, allowing them to accumulate specifically in tumor tissues passively. This passive targeting of tumors results in improved drug delivery and efficacy while reducing systemic toxicity. Promising results have been observed in pancreatic, lung, breast, and ovarian cancer models, making them a potential breakthrough in cancer therapy. Surface-modified liposomes, like antibodies or carbohydrates, also achieve active targeting. Overall, microfluidic fabrication improves reproducibility and scalability compared to traditional methods while maintaining drug loading and biological efficacy. Microfluidics-engineered liposomal formulations hold significant potential to overcome challenges in nanomedicine-based cancer treatment.

Design of PLGA nanoparticles for sustained release of hydroxyl-FK866 by microfluidics

The use of nanoparticle (NP) delivery systems in cancer treatment has received significant interest, however use of such systems in delivery of cytotoxic chemotherapy agents can be limited by low encapsulation efficiency and burst release of the cytotoxin, as well issues with throughput and reproducibility during the fabrication of drug-loaded NPs. In this study, we used a hydrodynamic flow-focusing microfluidic system to successfully produce poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) NPs. The physico-chemical properties of PLGA NPs were controlled by changing the manufacturing parameters, such as flow rate ratio, total flow rate, PLGA and surfactant concentration. The NAMPT inhibitor-polymer conjugate, hydroxyl-FK866-PLGA, was synthesized and used to fabricate hydroxyl-FK866-PLGA NPs for the formulation of localized delivery systems able to release low doses of cytotoxins and enhance the efficacy of NAMPT inhibitors. Hydroxyl-FK866-PLGA NPs were prepared with optimized fabrication parameters, having average Z-size of 128 ± 8 nm (PDI < 0.2), ζ-potential of -14.8 ± 5.3 mV and high encapsulation efficiency (98.6 ± 5.8 %). The pH-dependent release of hydroxyl-FK866 was monitored over time in conditions mimicking the normal (pH 7.4) and inflamed/tumor (pH 6.4) microenvironments, observing a sustained release pattern (over two months) without any initial burst release. Finally, toxicity of hydroxyl-FK866-PLGA NPs were tested in selected human cell lines, the human leukemia monocytic cell line (THP-1), and the human triple negative breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231). Our work suggests that microfluidic systems are a promising technology for a rapid and efficient manufacturing of PLGA-based NPs for the controlled release of cytotoxins. Moreover, the use of drug-polymer conjugates is an effective approach for the manufacturing of polymeric NPs enabling high encapsulation efficiency and a prolonged and sustained pH-dependent drug release.

Nanoparticle-based materials in anticancer drug delivery: Current and future prospects

The past decade has witnessed a breakthrough in novel strategies to treat cancer. One of the most common cancer treatment modalities is chemotherapy which involves administering anti-cancer drugs to the body. However, these drugs can lead to undesirable side effects on healthy cells. To overcome this challenge and improve cancer cell targeting, many novel nanocarriers have been developed to deliver drugs directly to the cancerous cells and minimize effects on the healthy tissues. The majority of the research studies conclude that using drugs encapsulated in nanocarriers is a much safer and more effective alternative than delivering the drug alone in its free form. This review provides a summary of the types of nanocarriers mainly studied for cancer drug delivery, namely: liposomes, polymeric micelles, dendrimers, magnetic nanoparticles, mesoporous nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes and quantum dots. In this review, the synthesis, applications, advantages, disadvantages, and previous studies of these nanomaterials are discussed in detail. Furthermore, the future opportunities and possible challenges of translating these materials into clinical applications are also reported.

Study of the skin-penetration promoting effect and mechanism of combined system of curcumin liposomes prepared by microfluidic chip and skin penetrating peptides TD-1 for topical treatment of primary melanoma

The transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS) is an effective strategy for the treatment of melanoma with fewer side effects and good biocompatible, but the skin penetration of drugs should be further promoted. Here, we proposed a new system that combined curcumin liposomes (Cur-Lips) with skin-penetrating peptides to promote skin penetration ability. However, the preparation of Cur-Lips has drawbacks of instability and low entrapment efficiency by the traditional methods. We thus innovatively designed and applied a microfluidic chip to optimize the preparation of Cur-Lips. Cur-Lips exhibited a particle size of 106.22 ± 4.94 nm with a low polydispersity index (＜0.3) and high entrapment efficiency of 99.33 ± 1.05 %, which were prepared by the microfluidic chip. The Cur-Lips increased the skin penetration capability of Cur by 2.76 times compared to its solution in vitro skin penetration experiment. With the help of skin-penetrating peptide TD-1, the combined system further promoted the skin penetration capability by 4.48 times. The (TD-1 + Cur-Lips) system also exhibited a superior inhibition effect of the tumor to B16F10 in vitro. Furthermore, the topical application of (TD-1 + Cur-Lips) gel suppressed melanoma growth in vivo, and induced tumor cell apoptosis in tumor tissues. The skin-penetration promotion mechanism of the system was investigated. It was proved that the system could interact with the lipids and keratin on the stratum corneum to promote the Cur distribute into the stratum corneum through hair follicles and sweat glands. We proved that the microfluidic chips had unique advantages for the preparation of liposomes. The innovative combined system of liposomes and biological transdermal enhancers can effectively promote the skin penetration effect of drugs and have great potential for the prevention and treatment of melanoma.

The Manufacturing and Characterisation of Eugenol-Enclosed Liposomes Produced by Microfluidic Method

In this study, liposomes enclosing eugenol were prepared using microfluidics. Two lipids-1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, 18:0 (DSPC) and 2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, 14:0 (DMPC)-and microfluidic chips with serpentine and Y-shaped micromixing designs were used for the liposomal formulation. Minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values indicated that eugenol was more effective against Gram-negative than Gram-positive bacteria. Four different flow-rate ratios (FRR 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, 5:1) were explored. All liposomes' encapsulation efficiency (EE) was determined: 94.34% for DSPC 3:1 and 78.63% for DMPC 5:1. The highest eugenol release of 99.86% was observed at pH 4, DMPC 3:1 (Y-shaped chip). Liposomes were physically stable at 4, 20 and 37 °C for 60 days as determined by their size, polydispersity index (PDI) and zeta potential (ZP). The most stable liposomes were observed at FRR 5:1 for DSPC. EE, stability, and eugenol release studies proved that the liposomal formulations produced can be used as delivery vehicles to increase food safety.

Characterization of lipid-based nanomedicines at the single-particle level

Lipid-based nanomedicines (LBNMs), including liposomes, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and extracellular vesicles (EVs), are recognized as one of the most clinically acceptable nano-formulations. However, the bench-to-bedside translation efficiency is far from satisfactory, mainly due to the lack of in-depth understanding of their physical and biochemical attributes at the single-particle level. In this review, we first give a brief introduction of LBNMs, highlighting some milestones and related scientific and clinical achievements in the past several decades, as well as the grand challenges in the characterization of LBNMs. Next, we present an overview of each category of LBNMs as well as the core properties that largely dictate their biological characteristics and clinical performance, such as size distribution, particle concentration, morphology, drug encapsulation and surface properties. Then, the recent applications of several analytical techniques including electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, Raman microscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis, tunable resistive pulse sensing and flow cytometry on the single-particle characterization of LBNMs are thoroughly discussed. Particularly, the comparative advantages of the newly developed nano-flow cytometry that enables quantitative analysis of both the physical and biochemical characteristics of LBNMs smaller than 40 nm with high throughput and statistical robustness are emphasized. The overall aim of this review article is to illustrate the importance, challenges and achievements associated with single-particle characterization of LBNMs.

Challenges and opportunities for improving the druggability of natural product: Why need drug delivery system?

Bioactive natural products (BNPs) are the marrow of medicinal plants, which are the secondary metabolites of organisms and have been the most famous drug discovery database. Bioactive natural products are famous for their enormous number and great safety in medical applications. However, BNPs are troubled by their poor druggability compared with synthesis drugs and are challenged as medicine (only a few BNPs are applied in clinical settings). In order to find a reasonable solution to improving the druggability of BNPs, this review summarizes their bioactive nature based on the enormous pharmacological research and tries to explain the reasons for the poor druggability of BNPs. And then focused on the boosting research on BNPs loaded drug delivery systems, this review further concludes the advantages of drug delivery systems on the druggability improvement of BNPs from the perspective of their bioactive nature, discusses why BNPs need drug delivery systems, and predicts the next direction.

Use of Microfluidics to Prepare Lipid-Based Nanocarriers

Lipid-based nanoparticles (LBNPs) are an important tool for the delivery of a diverse set of drug cargoes, including small molecules, oligonucleotides, and proteins and peptides. Despite their development over the past several decades, this technology is still hindered by issues with the manufacturing processes leading to high polydispersity, batch-to-batch and operator-dependent variability, and limits to the production volumes. To overcome these issues, the use of microfluidic techniques in the production of LBNPs has sharply increased over the past two years. Microfluidics overcomes many of the pitfalls seen with conventional production methods, leading to reproducible LBNPs at lower costs and higher yields. In this review, the use of microfluidics in the preparation of various types of LBNPs, including liposomes, lipid nanoparticles, and solid lipid nanoparticles for the delivery of small molecules, oligonucleotides, and peptide/protein drugs is summarized. Various microfluidic parameters, as well as their effects on the physicochemical properties of LBNPs, are also discussed.

Anticancer effect and safety of doxorubicin and nutraceutical sulforaphane liposomal formulation in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) animal model

Female breast cancer is the most deadly cancer in women worldwide. The triple-negative breast cancer subtype therapies, due to the lack of specific drug targets, are still based on systemic chemotherapy with doxorubicin, which is burdened with severe adverse effects. To enhance therapeutic success and protect against systemic toxicity, drug carriers or combination therapy are being developed. Thus, an innovative liposomal formulation containing doxorubicin and the main nutraceutical, sulforaphane, has been developed. The anticancer efficacy and safety of the proposed liposomal formulation was evaluated in vivo, in a 4T1 mouse model of triple-negative breast cancer, and the mechanism of action was determined in vitro, using triple-negative breast cancer MDA-MB-231 and non-tumorigenic breast MCF-10A cell line. The elaborated drug carriers were shown to efficiently deliver both compounds into the cancer cell and direct doxorubicin to the cell nucleus. Incorporation of sulforaphane resulted in a twofold inhibition of tumor growth and the potential of up to a fourfold reduction in doxorubicin concentration due to the synergistic interaction between the two compounds. Sulforaphane was shown to increase the accumulation of doxorubicin in the nuclei of cancer cells, accompanied by inhibition of mitosis, without affecting the reactive oxygen species status of the cell. In normal cells, an antagonistic effect resulting in less cytotoxicity was observed. In vivo results showed that sulforaphane incorporation yielded not only cardioprotective, but also nephro- and hepatoprotective effects. The results of the research revealed the prospects of applying sulforaphane as a component of liposomal doxorubicin in triple-negative breast cancer chemotherapy.

Nanoliposome based biosensors for probing mycotoxins and their applications for food: A review

Mycotoxins are the most common feed and food contaminants affecting animals and humans, respectively; continuous exposure causes tremendous health problems such as kidney disorders, infertility, immune suppression, liver inflammation, and cancer. Consequently, their control and quantification in food materials is crucial. Biosensors are potential tools for the rapid detection and quantification of mycotoxins with high sensitivity and selectivity. Nanoliposomes (NLs) are vesicular carriers formed by self-assembling phospholipids that surround the aqueous cores. Utilizing their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and high carrying capacity, researchers have employed NLs in biosensors for monitoring various targets in biological and food samples. The NLs are used for surface modification, signal marker delivery, and detection of toxins, bacteria, pesticides, and diseases. Here, we review marker-entrapped NLs used in the development of NL-based biosensors for mycotoxins. These biosensors are sensitive, selective, portable, and cost-effective analytical tools, and the resulting signal can be produced and/or amplified with or without destroying the NLs. In addition, this review emphasizes the benefits of the immunoliposome method in comparison with traditional detection approaches. We expect this review to serve as a valuable reference for researchers in this rapidly growing field. The insights provided may facilitate the rational design of next-generation NL-based biosensors.

Exploring the Phosphatidylcholine in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Potential Mechanisms and Therapeutic Interventions

BACKGROUND

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a significant health problem with an increasing financial burden worldwide. Although various treatment strategies have been used, the results were not satisfactory. More and more researches have proved that the application of phosphatidylcholine (PC) may become an alternative therapy for IBD.

OBJECTIVE

This review aims to provide an overview of the possible mechanisms of PC and promote the potential application of PC for IBD therapy further.

METHODS

A comprehensive literature search was performed in PubMed with the following keywords: 'phosphatidylcholine', 'inflammatory bowel disease', 'Crohn's disease', 'inflammation', 'ulcerative colitis', 'therapy', 'nanomedicines', 'PKCζ', 'lysophosphatidylcholine', 'microbiota' and 'drug carrier'. The logical operators "AND" and "OR" were applied to combine different sets of the search results.

RESULTS

Studies suggested that PC displays a significant effect in the treatment of IBD by modulating gut barrier function, remodeling gut microbiota structure, regulating polarization of macrophages, and reducing the inflammatory response. PC has also been exploited as a drug carrier for anticancer or anti-inflammation agents in multiple forms, which implies that PC has immense potential for IBD therapy.

CONCLUSION

PC has shown promising potential as a new therapeutic agent or a drug carrier, with a novel, stable, prolonged mechanism of action in treating IBD. However, more high-quality basic and clinical studies are needed to confirm this.

Sustained Drug Release from Smart Nanoparticles in Cancer Therapy: A Comprehensive Review

Although nanomedicine has been highly investigated for cancer treatment over the past decades, only a few nanomedicines are currently approved and in the market; making this field poorly represented in clinical applications. Key research gaps that require optimization to successfully translate the use of nanomedicines have been identified, but not addressed; among these, the lack of control of the release pattern of therapeutics is the most important. To solve these issues with currently used nanomedicines (e.g., burst release, systemic release), different strategies for the design and manufacturing of nanomedicines allowing for better control over the therapeutic release, are currently being investigated. The inclusion of stimuli-responsive properties and prolonged drug release have been identified as effective approaches to include in nanomedicine, and are discussed in this paper. Recently, smart sustained release nanoparticles have been successfully designed to safely and efficiently deliver therapeutics with different kinetic profiles, making them promising for many drug delivery applications and in specific for cancer treatment. In this review, the state-of-the-art of smart sustained release nanoparticles is discussed, focusing on the design strategies and performances of polymeric nanotechnologies. A complete list of nanomedicines currently tested in clinical trials and approved nanomedicines for cancer treatment is presented, critically discussing advantages and limitations with respect to the newly developed nanotechnologies and manufacturing methods. By the presented discussion and the highlight of nanomedicine design criteria and current limitations, this review paper could be of high interest to identify key features for the design of release-controlled nanomedicine for cancer treatment.

Microfluidic preparation of a novel phoxim nanoemulsion pesticide against Spodoptera litura

With continuous development of pesticide dosage forms, emulsifiable concentrates using large amounts of organic solvents are gradually obsoleted. Nanoemulsions with high water content have been developed and the preparation processes also evolved, but these processes still exist some problems, such as poor controllability and high energy consumption. Microfluidic is a controllable nanoemulsion preparation system which mainly applied to pharmaceutical synthesis. In this study, the pesticide phoxim nanoemulsion was prepared by microfluidic technology. The optimized formulation of phoxim nanoemulsion was composed of Tween 80 and pesticide emulsifier 500 as surfactant, hexyl acetate as oil, and n-propanol as co-surfactant. Moreover, when the flow rates of water and oil in the microfluidic system were adjusted to 5 μL/min and 20 μL/min, phoxim nanoemulsion was obtained with a cloud point/boiling point of 109 °C, a particle size of 21.5 ± 0.8 nm and a potential value of - 18.7 ± 0.6 mV. Furthermore, the nanoemulsion had a rapid release effect in vitro which could be fitted by the Ritger-Peppas model. The feeding toxicity of the phoxim nanoemulsion was higher than that of commercial formulation while the contact killing effect was higher than that of the active ingredient. Therefore, pesticide dosage was reduced and the insecticidal effect was enhanced by using phoxim nanoemulsions. These results also confirm the potential of microfluidics as a green process to produce pesticide nanoemulsions.

Liposomes: structure, composition, types, and clinical applications

Liposomes are now considered the most commonly used nanocarriers for various potentially active hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules due to their high biocompatibility, biodegradability, and low immunogenicity. Liposomes also proved to enhance drug solubility and controlled distribution, as well as their capacity for surface modifications for targeted, prolonged, and sustained release. Based on the composition, liposomes can be considered to have evolved from conventional, long-circulating, targeted, and immune-liposomes to stimuli-responsive and actively targeted liposomes. Many liposomal-based drug delivery systems are currently clinically approved to treat several diseases, such as cancer, fungal and viral infections; more liposomes have reached advanced phases in clinical trials. This review describes liposomes structure, composition, preparation methods, and clinical applications.

Weak Polyelectrolytes as Nanoarchitectonic Design Tools for Functional Materials: A Review of Recent Achievements

The ionization degree, charge density, and conformation of weak polyelectrolytes can be adjusted through adjusting the pH and ionic strength stimuli. Such polymers thus offer a range of reversible interactions, including electrostatic complexation, H-bonding, and hydrophobic interactions, which position weak polyelectrolytes as key nano-units for the design of dynamic systems with precise structures, compositions, and responses to stimuli. The purpose of this review article is to discuss recent examples of nanoarchitectonic systems and applications that use weak polyelectrolytes as smart components. Surface platforms (electrodeposited films, brushes), multilayers (coatings and capsules), processed polyelectrolyte complexes (gels and membranes), and pharmaceutical vectors from both synthetic or natural-type weak polyelectrolytes are discussed. Finally, the increasing significance of block copolymers with weak polyion blocks is discussed with respect to the design of nanovectors by micellization and film/membrane nanopatterning via phase separation.

Versatile Encapsulation and Synthesis of Potent Liposomes by Thermal Equilibration

The wide-scale use of liposomal delivery systems is challenged by difficulties in obtaining potent liposomal suspensions. Passive and active loading strategies have been proposed to formulate drug encapsulated liposomes but are limited by low efficiencies (passive) or high drug specificities (active). Here, we present an efficient and universal loading strategy for synthesizing therapeutic liposomes. Integrating a thermal equilibration technique with our unique liposome synthesis approach, co-loaded targeting nanovesicles can be engineered in a scalable manner with potencies 200-fold higher than typical passive encapsulation techniques. We demonstrate this capability through simultaneous co-loading of hydrophilic and hydrophobic small molecules and targeted delivery of liposomal Doxorubicin to metastatic breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. Molecular dynamic simulations are used to explain interactions between Doxorubicin and liposome membrane during thermal equilibration. By addressing the existing challenges, we have developed an unparalleled approach that will facilitate the formulation of novel theranostic and pharmaceutical strategies.

The nano delivery systems and applications of mRNA

The current COVID-19 epidemic has greatly accelerated the application of mRNA technology to our real world, and during this battle mRNA has proven it's unique advantages compared to traditional biopharmaceutical and vaccine technology. In order to overcome mRNA instability in human physiological environments, mRNA chemical modifications and nano delivery systems are two key factors for their in vivo applications. In this review, we would like to summarize the challenges for clinical translation of mRNA-based therapeutics, with an emphasis on recent advances in innovative materials and delivery strategies. The nano delivery systems include lipid delivery systems (lipid nanoparticles and liposomes), polymer complexes, micelles, cationic peptides and so on. The similarities and differences of lipid nanoparticles and liposomes are also discussed. In addition, this review also present the applications of mRNA to other areas than COVID-19 vaccine, such as infectious diseases, tumors, and cardiovascular disease, for which a variety of candidate vaccines or drugs have entered clinical trials. Furthermore, mRNA was found that it might be used to treat some genetic disease, overcome the immaturity of the immune system due to the small fetal size in utero, treat some neurological diseases that are difficult to be treated surgically, even be used in advancing the translation of iPSC technology et al. In short, mRNA has a wide range of applications, and its era has just begun.

Improved skin permeability and whitening effect of catechin-loaded transfersomes through topical delivery

The aim of the study was to prepare catechin-loaded transfersomes to enhance drug permeability through topical administration for the skin protection against ultraviolet radiation induced photo-damage. The results showed that the catechin-loaded transfersomes were monodispersed with polydispersity index (PDI) < 0.2, <200 nm in particle size and with high encapsulation efficiency (E.E.%) greater than 85%. The in vitro skin permeation test indicated that the catechin-loaded transfersomes enhanced the skin permeability by 85% compared to the catechin aqueous solution. Similarly, the in-vivo skin whitening study demonstrated that F5 transfersome formulation was effective in tyrosinase inhibition and had good biocompatibility to the guinea pig skin. Finally, the stability study showed that both physicochemical properties and E.E.% of the F5 transferosome formulation were fairly stable after 3 months storage. Therefore, topical administration of catechin-loaded transfersomes could be considered as a potential strategy for the treatment of UV-induced oxidative damage to the skin.