Encapsulation of Doxorubicin in Furcellaran/Chitosan Nanocapsules by Layer-by-Layer Technique for Selectively Controlled Drug Delivery

Design and In Vitro Activity of Furcellaran/Chitosan Multilayer Microcapsules for the Delivery of Glutathione and Empty Model Multilayer Microcapsules Based on Polysaccharides

In this study, multilayer microcapsules (two-layer and four-layer) based on furcellaran (FUR) and chitosan (CHIT) were produced, enclosing a tripeptide with an antioxidant effect-glutathione-in different concentrations. In addition, for the first time, an empty, four-layer microcapsule based on CHIT and FUR (ECAPS) was obtained, which can be used to contain sensitive, active substances of a hydrophobic nature. Layering was monitored using zeta potential, and the presence of the resulting capsules was confirmed by SEM imaging. In the current study, we also investigated whether the studied capsules had any effect on the Hep G2 cancer cell line. An attempt was also made to identify the possible molecular mechanism(s) by which the examined capsules suppressed the growth of Hep G2 cells. In this report, we demonstrate that the capsules suppressed the growth of cancer cells. This mechanism was linked to the modulation of the AKT/PI3K signaling pathway and the induction of the G2/M arrest cell cycle. Furthermore, the results indicate that the tested multilayer microcapsules induced cell death through an apoptotic pathway.

Layer-by-layer assembly of nanotheranostic particles for simultaneous delivery of docetaxel and doxorubicin to target osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a rare form of primary bone cancer, impacting approximately 3.4 × 106 individuals worldwide each year, primarily afflicting children. Given the limitations of existing cancer therapies, the emergence of nanotheranostic platforms has generated considerable research interest in recent decades. These platforms seamlessly integrate therapeutic potential of drug compounds with the diagnostic capabilities of imaging probes within a single construct. This innovation has opened avenues for enhanced drug delivery to targeted sites while concurrently enabling real-time monitoring of the vehicle's trajectory. In this study, we developed a nanotheranostic system employing the layer-by-layer (LbL) technique on a core containing doxorubicin (DOXO) and in-house synthesized carbon quantum dots. By utilizing chitosan and chondroitin sulfate as polyelectrolytes, we constructed a multilayered coating to encapsulate DOXO and docetaxel, achieving a coordinated co-delivery of both drugs. The LbL-functionalized nanoparticles exhibited an approximate size of 150 nm, manifesting a predominantly uniform and spherical morphology, with an encapsulation efficiency of 48% for both drugs. The presence of seven layers in these systems facilitated controlled drug release over time, as evidenced by in vitro release tests. Finally, the impact of the LbL-functionalized nanoparticles was evaluated on U2OS and Saos-2 osteosarcoma cells. The synergistic effect of the two drugs was found to be crucial in inducing cell death, particularly in Saos-2 cells treated with nanoparticles at concentrations higher than 10 μg/ml. Transmission electron microscopy analysis confirmed the internalization of the nanoparticles into both cell types through endocytic mechanisms, revealing an underlying mechanism of necrosis-induced cell death.

Sulfation of furcellaran and its effect on hemocompatibility in vitro

In this study, furcellaran (FUR) obtained from Furcellaria lumbricalis was firstly employed for sulfation via various methods, including SO3-pyridine (SO3∙Py) complex in different aprotic solvents, chlorosulfonic acid and sulfuric acid with a "coupling" reagent N,N'-Dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. Structural characterization through FT-IR, GPC, XPS and elemental analyses confirmed the successful synthesis of 6-O-sulfated FUR derivates characterized by varying degrees of sulfation (DS) ranging from 0.15 to 0.91 and molecular weight (Mw) spanning from12.5 kDa to 2.7 kDa. In vitro clotting assays, partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), thrombin time (TT), and prothrombin time (PT) underscored the essential role of sulfate esters in conferring anticoagulant activity whereas FUR prepared via chlorosulfonic acid with DS of 0.91 reached 311.4 s in aPPT showing almost 4-fold higher anticoagulant activity than native FUR at the concentration 2 mg/mL. MTT test showed all tested samples decreased cell viability in a dose dependent manner while all of them are non-cytotoxic up to the concentration of 0.1 mg/mL. Furthermore, sulfated derivates deposited onto polyethylene terephthalate surface presented substantial decrease in platelet adhesion, as well as absence of the most activated platelet stages. These findings support the pivotal role of O-6 FUR sulfates in enhancing hemocompatibility and provide valuable insights for a comparative assessment of effective sulfating approaches.

Further Improvement Based on Traditional Nanocapsule Preparation Methods: A Review

Nanocapsule preparation technology, as an emerging technology with great development prospects, has uniqueness and superiority in various industries. In this paper, the preparation technology of nanocapsules was systematically divided into three categories: physical methods, chemical methods, and physicochemical methods. The technological innovation of different methods in recent years was reviewed, and the mechanisms of nanocapsules prepared via emulsion polymerization, interface polymerization, layer-by-layer self-assembly technology, nanoprecipitation, supercritical fluid, and nano spray drying was summarized in detail. Different from previous reviews, the renewal iteration of core-shell structural materials was highlighted, and relevant illustrations of their representative and latest research results were reviewed. With the continuous progress of nanocapsule technology, especially the continuous development of new wall materials and catalysts, new preparation technology, and new production equipment, nanocapsule technology will be used more widely in medicine, food, cosmetics, pesticides, petroleum products, and many other fields.

Super-Antioxidant Vitamin A Derivatives with Improved Stability and Efficacy Using Skin-Permeable Chitosan Nanocapsules

Retinyl palmitate (RP) is a retinol ester with strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties as an antiwrinkle agent. However, it has poor aqueous solubility and easily degrades into inactive forms for topical applications. Therefore, we developed chitosan-coated nanocapsules (ChiNCs) to encapsulate RP using a simple nanoprecipitation method for protection against physiological conditions and to enable deep skin penetration. The as-prepared RP-loaded nanocapsules (RP@ChiNCs) loaded with approximately 5 wt.% RP exhibited a hydrodynamic diameter of 86 nm and surface charge of 24 mV. They had adequate stability to maintain their physicochemical properties after lyophilization in a biological buffer. Notably, ChiNCs provided RP with remarkable protection against degradation for 4 weeks at 37 °C. Thus, RP@ChiNCs exhibited good antioxidant activity in situ for sufficiently long periods without considerable changes in their efficacy. Furthermore, ChiNCs enhanced the skin penetration of lipophilic RP based on the inherent nature of chitosan. RP@ChiNCs exhibited good in vitro antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects without causing any cytotoxicity in dermal fibroblasts. Accordingly, they promoted cell proliferation in a wound-scratch test and enhanced collagen synthesis. These results suggest that RP@ChiNCs are promising candidates for cosmetic and biomedical applications.

Co-delivery of doxorubicin and hydroxychloroquine via chitosan/alginate nanoparticles for blocking autophagy and enhancing chemotherapy in breast cancer therapy

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy in women worldwide, and the standard treatment is chemotherapy or radiotherapy after surgery. In order to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy, various nanoparticles (NPs) have been discovered and synthesized, which has become a promising treatment for BC. In this study, a co-delivery nanodelivery drug system (Co-NDDS) was designed and synthesized with 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) coated Fe₃O₄ NPs as core encapsulated into chitosan/alginate nanoparticles (CANPs) shell, doxorubicin (DOX) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as loading drugs. Smaller NPs carrying DOX (FeAC-DOX NPs) were loaded into larger NPs containing HCQ (FeAC-DOX@PC-HCQ NPs) by ionic gelation and emulsifying solvent volatilization methods. The physicochemical properties of this Co-NDDS were characterised, followed by in vitro studies of the anticancer effects and mechanisms using two different BC cell lines, MCF-7 cells and MDA-MB-231 cells. The results indicated that the Co-NDDS showcases exemplary physicochemical qualities and encapsulation capacity, facilitating accurate intracellular release through pH-sensitive attributes. Importantly, NPs can significantly increase the in vitro cytotoxicity of co-administered drugs and effectively inhibit the autophagy level of tumour cells. The Co-NDDS constructed in this study provides a promising strategy for the treatment of BC.

Unification of medicines and excipients: The roles of natural excipients for promoting drug delivery

INTRODUCTION

Drug delivery systems (DDSs) formed by natural active compounds be instrumental in developing new green excipients and novel DDS from natural active compounds (NACs). 'Unification of medicines and excipients'(UME), the special inherent nature of the natural active compounds, provides the inspiration and conduction to achieve this goal.

AREAS COVERED

This review summarizes the typical types of NACs from herbal medicine, such as saponins, flavonoids, polysaccharides, etc. that act as excipients and their main application in DDS. The comparison of the drug delivery systems formed by NACs and common materials and the primary formation mechanisms of these NACs are also introduced to provide a deepened understanding of their performance in DDS.

EXPERT OPINION

Many natural bioactive compounds, such as saponins, polysaccharides, etc. have been used in DDS. Diversity of structure and pharmacological effects of NACs turn out the unique advantages in improving the performance of DDSs like targeting ability, adhesion, encapsulation efficiency(EE), etc. and enhancing the bioavailability of loaded drugs.

Novel Nanoencapsulation Technology and its Potential Role in Bile Acid-Based Targeted Gene Delivery to the Inner Ear

Hearing loss impacts a large proportion of the global population. Damage to the inner ear, in particular the sensitive hair cells, can impact individuals for the rest of their lives. There are very limited options for interventions after damage to these cells has occurred. Targeted gene delivery may provide an effective means to trigger appropriate differentiation of progenitor cells for effective replacement of these sensitive hair cells. There are several hurdles that need to be overcome to effectively deliver these genes. Nanoencapsulation technology has previously been used for the delivery of pharmaceuticals, proteins and nucleic acids, and may provide an effective means of delivering genes to trigger appropriate differentiation. This review investigates the background of hearing loss, current advancements and pitfalls of gene delivery, and how nanoencapsulation may be useful.

Recent Reports on Polysaccharide-Based Materials for Drug Delivery

Polysaccharides constitute one of the most important families of biopolymers. Natural polysaccharide-based drug delivery systems are of constant interest to the scientific community due to their unique properties: biocompatibility, non-toxicity, biodegradability, and high availability. These promising biomaterials protect sensitive active agents and provide their controlled release in targeted sites. The application of natural polysaccharides as drug delivery systems is also intensively developed by Polish scientists. The present review focuses on case studies from the last few years authored or co-authored by research centers in Poland. A particular emphasis was placed on the diversity of the formulations in terms of the active substance carried, the drug delivery route, the composition of the material, and its preparation method.

Advances in polysaccharide-based nano/microcapsules for biomedical applications: A review

Biocompatible and biodegradable polysaccharides are abundant and renewable natural materials. Polysaccharides and their derivatives are developed into various carrier materials for biomedical applications. In particular, advanced polysaccharide-based nano/microcapsules have received extensive attention in biomedical applications due to their good encapsulation ability and tunability. In recent years, polysaccharide-based nano/microcapsules have been widely used in drug carriers, gene carriers, antigen carriers, wound dressings, bioimaging and biosensors. Numerous research results have confirmed the feasibility, safety, and effectiveness of polysaccharide-based nano/microcapsules in the above-mentioned biomedical applications. This review discussed and analyzed the latest research strategies and design considerations for these applications in detail. The preparation methods, application strategies, and design considerations of polysaccharide-based nano/microcapsules are summarized and analyzed, and their challenges and future research prospects in biomedicine are further discussed. It is expected to provide researchers with inspiration and design ideas.

Structure-function relationships in polymeric multilayer capsules designed for cancer drug delivery

The targeted delivery of cancer drugs to tumor-specific molecular targets represents a major challenge in modern personalized cancer medicine. Engineering of micron and submicron polymeric multilayer capsules allows the obtaining of multifunctional theranostic systems serving as controllable stimulus-responsive tools with a high clinical potential to be used in cancer therapy and detection. The functionalities of such theranostic systems are determined by the design and structural properties of the capsules. This review (1) describes the current issues in designing cancer cell-targeting polymeric multilayer capsules, (2) analyzes the effects of the interactions of the capsules with the cellular and molecular constituents of biological fluids, and (3) presents the key structural parameters determining the effectiveness of capsule targeting. The influence of the morphological and physicochemical parameters and the origin of the structural components and surface ligands on the functional activity of polymeric multilayer capsules at the molecular, cellular, and whole-body levels are summarized. The basic structural and functional principles determining the future trends of theranostic capsule development are established and discussed.

Influence of Association on Binding of Disaccharides to YKL-39 and hHyal-1 Enzymes

Disaccharide complexes have been shown experimentally to be useful for drug delivery or as an antifouling surface biofilm, and are promising drug-encapsulation and delivery candidates. Although such complexes are intended for medical applications, to date no studies at the molecular level have been devoted to the influence of complexation on the enzymatic decomposition of polysaccharides. A theoretical approach to this problem has been hampered by the lack of a suitable computational tool for binding such non-covalent complexes to enzymes. Herein, we combine quantum-mechanical calculations of disaccharides complexes with a nonstandard docking GaudiMM engine that can perform such a task. Our results on four different complexes show that they are mostly stabilized by electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonds. This strong non-covalent stabilization demonstrates the studied complexes are some excellent candidates for self-assembly smart materials, useful for drug encapsulation and delivery. Their advantage lies also in their biocompatible and biodegradable character.

Review on design strategies and considerations of polysaccharide-based smart drug delivery systems for cancer therapy

The unique natural advantages of polysaccharide materials have attracted attention in biomedical applications. The abundant modifiable functional groups on the polysaccharide materials surface can facilitate the synthesis of various multifunctional drug delivery carriers. Especially in tumor therapy, the designs of polysaccharide-based drug delivery carriers are diverse. Therefore, this review summarized several latest types of polysaccharide-based drug carriers designs, and focused on the latest design strategies and considerations of drug carriers with polysaccharides as the main structure. It is expected to provide some design ideas and inspiration for subsequent polysaccharide-based drug delivery systems.

Composite biopolymer films based on a polyelectrolyte complex of furcellaran and chitosan

The aim of research was to develop biopolymer films based on natural polysaccharides. For the first time, biodegradable films were obtained on the basis of a furcellaran-chitosan polyelectrolyte complex. The conditions for its formation were determined by measuring the zeta potential as a function of colloid pH, the size of pure components and their mixtures. The structure and morphology of the prepared films were characterised by FT-IR and AFM analysis. The lowest WVTR values were observed for the FUR and the CHIT-FUR films at the ratio of 9:1. The mechanical, water and rheological properties depend on the weight ratio of furcellaran to chitosan in the mixture. The thermal stability has been improved in CHIT-FUR films at the 9:1 ratio. The results obtained create the possibility of successfully using CHIT-FUR films in the development of biodegradable packaging materials.

Recent advances in chitosan-based layer-by-layer biomaterials and their biomedical applications

In recent years, chitosan-based biomaterials have been continually and extensively researched by using layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly, due to their potentials in biomedicine. Various chitosan-based LBL materials have been newly developed and applied in different areas along with the development of technologies. This work reviews the recent advances of chitosan-based biomaterials produced by LBL assembly. Driving forces of LBL, for example electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bond as well as Schiff base linkage have been discussed. Various forms of chitosan-based LBL materials such as films/coatings, capsules and fibers have been reviewed. The applications of these biomaterials in the field of antimicrobial applications, drug delivery, wound dressings and tissue engineering have been comprehensively reviewed.

Zwitterionic Nanocapsules with Salt- and Thermo-Responsiveness for Controlled Encapsulation and Release

Intelligent polymer nanocapsules that can not only encapsulate substances efficiently but also release them in a controllable manner hold great potential in many applications. To date, although intensive efforts have been made to develop intelligent polymer nanocapsules, how to construct the well-defined core/shell structure with high stability via a straightforward method remains a considerable challenge. In this work, the target novel zwitterionic nanocapsules (ZN_Cs) with a stable hollow structure were synthesized by inverse reversible addition fragmentation transfer (RAFT) miniemulsion interfacial polymerization. The shell gradually grew from the water/oil interface due to the interfacial polymerization, accompanied by the cross-linking of the polyzwitterionic networks, where the core/shell structure could be well-tuned by adjusting the precursor compositions. The resultant ZN_Cs exhibited a salt-/thermo-induced swelling behavior through the phase transition of the external zwitterionic polymers. To further investigate the functions of ZN_Cs, different substances, such as methyl orange and bovine serum albumin (BSA), were encapsulated into the ZN_Cs with a high encapsulation efficiency of 89.3 and 93.6%, respectively. Interestingly, the loaded substances can be controllably released in aqueous solution triggered by salt or temperature variations, and such responsiveness also can be utilized to bounce off the bacteria adhered on target surfaces. We believe that these designed salt- and thermo-responsive intelligent polymer nanocapsules with well-defined core/shell structures and antifouling surfaces should be a promising platform for biomedical and saline related applications.