Application of spray granulation for conversion of mixed phospholipid-bile salt micelles to dry powder form: influence of drug hydrophobicity on nanoparticle reagglomeration

Photothermal Therapy Mediated Hybrid Membrane Derived Nano-formulation for Enhanced Cancer Therapy

Emodin is applied as an antitumor drug in many tumor therapies. However, its pharmacology performances are limited due to its low solubility. Herein, we fused erythrocyte and macrophage to form a hybrid membrane (EMHM) and encapsulated emodin to form hybrid membrane-coated nanoparticles. We employed glycyrrhizin to increase the solubility of emodin first and prepared the hybrid membrane nanoparticle-coated emodin and glycyrrhizin (EG@EMHM NPs) which exhibited an average particle size of 170 ± 20 nm and encapsulation efficiency of 98.13 ± 0.67%. The half-inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of EG@EMHM NPs were 1.166 μg/mL, which is half of the free emodin. Based on the photosensitivity of emodin, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) results disclosed that ROS levels of the photodynamic therapy (PDT) section were higher than the normal section (P < 0.05). Compared to the normal section, PDT-mediated EG@EMHM NPs could induce an early stage of apoptosis of B16. The western blot and flow cytometry results verified that PDT-mediated EG@EMHM NPs can significantly improve the solubility of emodin and perform a remarkably antitumor effect on melanoma via BAX and BCL-2 pathway. The application of the combined chemical and PDT therapy could provide an improving target therapy for cutaneous melanoma and also may offer an idea for other insoluble components sources of traditional Chinese medicine. Schematic of EG@EMHM NPs formulation.

Bortezomib-loaded mixed micelles realize a "three-in-one" effect for enhanced breast cancer treatment

Comprehensively regulating the TME is now regarded as a promising approach for cancer treatment. Herein, a novel "three-in-one" effect is presented for simultaneously killing tumor cells, inhibiting the EMT of CAFs, and improving immune responses. In this study, bortezomib (BTZ) is selected for the treatment of breast cancer; it has multiple pharmacological mechanisms for killing tumor cells through the NF-κB signaling pathway, inhibiting the activity of CAFs by activating caspase-3, and enhancing the function of CD8+ T cells by regulating the expression of immune-stimulating factors. To improve the druggability of BTZ in solid tumors, BTZ-loaded lipid/glycocholic acid mixed micelles (BTZ-LGs) were prepared to verify the "three-in-one" effect in killing tumor cells, inhibiting CAFs, and improving immune responses. In the present work, BTZ-LGs were verified to show enhanced in vitro cytotoxicity in both 4T1 cells and 4T1/NIH3T3 co-cultured cells, as well as a superior in vivo treatment effect in different tumor-bearing mouse models. Additionally, BTZ-LGs could regulate the expression of α-SMA, caspase-3, E-cadherin, and N-cadherin, indicating their good inhibiting ability on both tumor cells and CAFs. More importantly, immunological analysis revealed that BTZ-LGs promoted the expression of the immunostimulatory factor IL-2 in tumor tissues, activated anti-tumor T cells, and overcame tumor-induced CD8+ T cell dysfunction. All these findings suggest that BTZ-LGs can achieve a "three-in-one" effect in terms of killing tumor cells, suppressing CAFs, and improving immune responses. This simple and multi-effective therapeutic strategy offers a promising approach for cancer therapy.

The Phospholipid Research Center: Current Research in Phospholipids and Their Use in Drug Delivery

This review summarizes the research on phospholipids and their use for drug delivery related to the Phospholipid Research Center Heidelberg (PRC). The focus is on projects that have been approved by the PRC since 2017 and are currently still ongoing or have recently been completed. The different projects cover all facets of phospholipid research, from basic to applied research, including the use of phospholipids in different administration forms such as liposomes, mixed micelles, emulsions, and extrudates, up to industrial application-oriented research. These projects also include all routes of administration, namely parenteral, oral, and topical. With this review we would like to highlight possible future research directions, including a short introduction into the world of phospholipids.

Study on different particle sizes of DOX-loaded mixed micelles for cancer therapy

Nano-based drug delivery systems have been widely applied in cancer therapy, among that, particle sizes may affect the delivery efficiency of nanocarriers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential impacts of particle size on tumor therapy, in consideration of this, lipid/glycocholic acid mixed micelles (LGs) were designed as the model nanocarriers. Doxorubicin (DOX) loaded LGs with two different particle sizes at around 10 nm and 100 nm, respectively, were successfully prepared by controlling the ratio of EPC to GAH. In vitro release study showed that the release behaviors of DOX in mixed micelles with two different particle sizes was basically consistent and showed sustained release. DOX-LGs at 10 nm exhibited higher cellular uptake capacity, compared with DOX-LGs at 100 nm. Besides, in vivo NIFR imaging also demonstrated that DOX-LGs at 10 nm had more accumulation in tumor site. Furthermore, DOX-LGs at 10 nm presented both higher in vitro cytotoxicity and superior in vivo antitumor activity than that of 100 nm. In vivo safety evaluations showed that the mixed micelles had lower toxicities than free DOX solution formulations. These results indicated that the nanoparticles with smaller particle size could improve the profiles in cellular uptake, tumor accumulation as well as anti-tumor efficacy, which would provide a theoretical principle for the design of nanoparticles.

Quercetin-loaded freeze-dried nanomicelles: Improving absorption and anti-glioma efficiency in vitro and in vivo

To improve its poor aqueous solubility and stability, the potential chemopreventive agent quercetin was encapsulated in freeze-dried polymeric micelles by a thin film hydration and vacuum freeze-drying process before being used for glioma chemotherapy. The micelle characteristics, release profile, cellular uptake, intracellular drug concentration, transport across the blood-brain barrier, and antitumor efficiency in vivo were investigated. Results showed that the particle size of quercetin-loaded freeze-dried nanomicelles (QUE-FD-NMs) ranged from 20 to 80nm, with an efficiently sustained release profile. Increased intracellular uptake into Caco-2 cells with low cytotoxicity, efficient penetration of BBB, and powerful cytotoxicity on C6 glioma cells were observed. QUE-FD-NMs accumulated in tumor-bearing brain tissues and exhibited significant antitumor effects in vivo, which significantly benefited the survival of glioma-bearing mice. These findings suggest that freeze-drying micelles loaded with quercetin is a promising drug delivery method for glioma therapy.