Body distribution of 75Se-radiolabeled silica nanoparticles covalently coated with omega-functionalized surfactants after intravenous injection in rats

Engineering mesoporous silica nanoparticles for drug delivery: where are we after two decades?

The present review details a chronological description of the events that took place during the development of mesoporous materials, their different synthetic routes and their use as drug delivery systems. The outstanding textural properties of these materials quickly inspired their translation to the nanoscale dimension leading to mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs). The different aspects of introducing pharmaceutical agents into the pores of these nanocarriers, together with their possible biodistribution and clearance routes, would be described here. The development of smart nanocarriers that are able to release a high local concentration of the therapeutic cargo on-demand after the application of certain stimuli would be reviewed here, together with their ability to deliver the therapeutic cargo to precise locations in the body. The huge progress in the design and development of MSNs for biomedical applications, including the potential treatment of different diseases, during the last 20 years will be collated here, together with the required work that still needs to be done to achieve the clinical translation of these materials. This review was conceived to stand out from past reports since it aims to tell the story of the development of mesoporous materials and their use as drug delivery systems by some of the story makers, who could be considered to be among the pioneers in this area.

Nanocarriers Call the Last Shot in the Treatment of Brain Cancers

Our brain is protected by physio-biological barriers. The blood–brain barrier (BBB) main mechanism of protection relates to the abundance of tight junctions (TJs) and efflux pumps. Although BBB is crucial for healthy brain protection against toxins, it also leads to failure in a devastating disease like brain cancer. Recently, nanocarriers have been shown to pass through the BBB and improve patients’ survival rates, thus becoming promising treatment strategies. Among nanocarriers, inorganic nanocarriers, solid lipid nanoparticles, liposomes, polymers, micelles, and dendrimers have reached clinical trials after delivering promising results in preclinical investigations. The size of these nanocarriers is between 10 and 1000 nm and is modified by surface attachment of proteins, peptides, antibodies, or surfactants. Multiple research groups have reported transcellular entrance as the main mechanism allowing for these nanocarriers to cross BBB. Transport proteins and transcellular lipophilic pathways exist in BBB for small and lipophilic molecules. Nanocarriers cannot enter via the paracellular route, which is limited to water-soluble agents due to the TJs and their small pore size. There are currently several nanocarriers in clinical trials for the treatment of brain cancer. This article reviews challenges as well as fitting attributes of nanocarriers for brain tumor treatment in preclinical and clinical studies.

Aerosol-synthesized siliceous nanoparticles: impact of morphology and functionalization on biodistribution

Introduction

Siliceous nanoparticles (NPs) have been extensively studied in nanomedicine due to their high biocompatibility and immense biomedical potential. Although numerous technologies have been developed, the synthesis of siliceous NPs for biomedical applications mainly relies on a few core technologies predominantly intended to produce spherical-shaped NPs.

Methods

In this context, the impact of different morphologies of siliceous NPs on biodistribution in vivo is limited. In the present study, we developed a novel technique based on an aerosol silane reactor to produce sintered silicon NPs of similar size but different surface areas due to distinct spherical subunits. Silica-converted particles were functionalized for radiolabeling with copper-64 (⁶⁴Cu) to systematically analyze their behavior in the passive targeting of A431 tumor xenografts in mice after intravenous injection.

Results

While low nonspecific uptake was observed in most organs, the majority of particles were accumulated in the liver, spleen, and lung. Depending on the morphologies and function-alization, significant differences in the uptake profiles of the particles were observed. In terms of tumor uptake, spherical shapes with lower surface areas showed the highest accumulation and tumor-to-blood ratios of all investigated particles.

Conclusion

This study highlights the importance of shape and fuctionalization of siliceous NPs on organ and tumor accumulation as significant factors for biomedical applications.

Nanoparticle Uptake: The Phagocyte Problem

Phagocytes are key cellular participants determining important aspects of host exposure to nanomaterials, initiating clearance, biodistribution and the tenuous balance between host tolerance and adverse nanotoxicity. Macrophages in particular are believed to be among the first and primary cell types that process nanoparticles, mediating host inflammatory and immunological biological responses. These processes occur ubiquitously throughout tissues where nanomaterials are present, including the host mononuclear phagocytic system (MPS) residents in dedicated host filtration organs (i.e., liver, kidney spleen, and lung). Thus, to understand nanomaterials exposure risks it is critical to understand how nanomaterials are recognized, internalized, trafficked and distributed within diverse types of host macrophages and how possible cell-based reactions resulting from nanomaterial exposures further inflammatory host responses in vivo. This review focuses on describing macrophage-based initiation of downstream hallmark immunological and inflammatory processes resulting from phagocyte exposure to and internalization of nanomaterials.

Preparation and Characterization of Double Shell Fe3O4 Cluster@Nonporous SiO2@Mesoporous SiO2 Nanocomposite Spheres and Investigation of their In Vitro Biocompatibility

BACKGROUND

Multifunctional core-shell magnetic nanocomposite particles with tunable characteristics have been paid much attention for biomedical applications in recent years. A rational design and suitable preparation method must be employed to be able to exploit attractive properties of magnetic nanocomposite particles.

OBJECTIVES

Herein, we report on a simple approach for the synthesis of magnetic mesoporous silica nanocomposite particles (MMSPs), consisted of a Fe₃O₄ cluster core, a nonporous silica shell and a second shell of the mesoporous silica of suitable sizes for biomedical applications and evaluate their cytotoxicity effects on human cancer prostate cell lines.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Clusters of magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles were coated by a layer of nonporous silica using Stöber method. The coating step was completed by an outer layer of mesoporous silica via template-removing method. Structural properties of MMSPs were investigated by FTIR, HR-S(T)EM, BET, XRD techniques and magnetic properties of MMSPs by VSM instrument. MTT and LDH assays were employed to study the cytotoxicity of MMSPs.

RESULTS

Obtained results revealed that decreasing the precursor concentration and the reaction time at the nonporous silica shell formation step decreases the thickness of the nonporous silica shell and consequently leads to the formation of smaller MMSPs. The as-prepared MMSPs have a desirable average size of 180±10 nm, an average pore size of 3.01 nm, a high surface area of 390.4 m².g^-1 and a large pore volume of 0.294 cm³.g^-1. In addition, the MMSPs exhibited a superparamagnetic behavior and a high magnetization saturation value of 21±0.5 emu/g. Furthermore, the viability tests of DU-145 cell lines exposed to various concentrations of these particles demonstrated negligible cytotoxicity effects of the as-prepared particles.

CONCLUSIONS

These results demonstrate interesting properties of MMSPs prepared in this study for biomedical applications.

Drug delivery to the central nervous system by polymeric nanoparticles: what do we know?

Nanoparticles enable the delivery of a great variety of drugs including anticancer drugs, analgesics, anti-Alzheimer's drugs, cardiovascular drugs, protease inhibitors, and several macromolecules into the brain after intravenous injection of animals. The mechanism of the nanoparticle-mediated drug transport across the BBB appears to be receptor-mediated endocytosis followed by transcytosis into the brain or by drug release within the endothelial cells. Modification of the nanoparticle surface with covalently attached targeting ligands or by coating with certain surfactants that lead to the adsorption of specific plasma proteins after injection is necessary for this receptor-mediated uptake. A very critical and important requirement for nanoparticulate brain delivery is that the employed nanoparticles are biocompatible and, moreover, rapidly biodegradable, i.e. over a time frame of a few days. In addition to enabling drug delivery to the brain, nanoparticles, as with doxorubicin, may importantly reduce the drug's toxicity and adverse effects due to an alteration of the body distribution. Because of the possibility to treat severe CNS diseases such as brain tumours and to even transport proteins and other macromolecules across the blood-brain barrier, this technology holds great promise for a non-invasive therapy of these diseases.

Development of A Flexible Cell Targeting System Based on Silica Nanoparticles

Commercially available and synthesized silica particles were fluorescently labeled with FITC and modified to get a wide variety of particle systems with defined size and surface charge. By a variation of reaction conditions particles with diameters of 10 and 80 nm determined with TEM and with zetapotentials between -50 to +30 mV under physiological conditions (pH: 7.4, PBS-buffer) were available.

A further molecular shell consisiting of avidin was obtained by binding the molecules to negatively charged particle surfaces through electrostatic interactions. The amount of avidin coupled to the silica particles was 1.7 μg per mg particle. Starting with particles with an hydrodynamic diameter determined with PCS of 260 nm, the size increased to 500 nm, while the zeta potential was altered to -8 mV under physiological conditions.

Biotinylated wheat germ agglutinin (bio-WGA) can be bonded to such particles through avidin / biotin complex formation. Up to 2.8 μg lectin per mg particles could be coupled to the particle surface. This leads to a further increase of hydrodynamic diameter to 650 nm. It could be shown by hemagglutination test, that the bonded lectin is still active. No toxic effects of the silica particles were found at 1 wt.-% particle concentration with various cell types (Caco-2, L132). The binding of lectin-particle complexes to cells was increased by a factor of 4.4 in comparison to uncoated particles.

In addition it was found that WGA can directly be coupled to the particle surface. An amount of 1.8 μg Lectin per mg particle was determined. The hydrodynamic diameter increases from 260 nm to 432 rm, while a zetapotential of-28 mV was found under physiological conditions.

It could be shown, that negatively charged silica nanoparticles are suitable systems to couple various biomolecules retaining their biological function.

Translational considerations for cancer nanomedicine

There are many important considerations during preclinical development of cancer nanomedicines, including: 1) unique aspects of animal study design; 2) the difficulties in evaluating biological potency, especially for complex formulations; 3) the importance of analytical methods that can determine platform stability in vivo, and differentiate bound and free active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in biological matrices; and 4) the appropriateness of current dose scaling techniques for estimation of clinical first-in-man dose from preclinical data. Biologics share many commonalities with nanotechnology products with regard to complexity and biological attributes, and can, in some cases, provide context for dealing with these preclinical issues. In other instances, such as the case of in vivo stability analysis, new approaches are required. This paper will discuss the significance of these preclinical issues, and present examples of current methods and best practices for addressing them. Where possible, these recommendations are justified using the existing regulatory guidance literature.

Biofunctionalized phospholipid-capped mesoporous silica nanoshuttles for targeted drug delivery: improved water suspensibility and decreased nonspecific protein binding

A main challenge in nanobiomedicine is the engineering of nanostructures or nanomaterials that can efficiently encapsulate drugs at high load, cross cell membranes, and controllably release their cargo at target sites. Although mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) are safe, versatile, and promising carrier materials for targeted drug delivery, their aggregation phenomena under physiological conditions (or salt-containing environments) and their nonspecific binding in protein-containing solutions (or serum) limit their applications in biological science and biomedicine. To address this challenge, we have developed a novel delivery system, termed a nanoshuttle, comprising a nanoscale PEGylated-phospholipid coating and 13-(chlorodimethylsilylmethyl)heptacosane-derivatized MSNs, in which therapeutic or imaging agents may be trapped and ligand-assisted targeted delivery may be achieved through surface functionalization of the phospholipids. As a proof of concept in this study, we selected fluorescein isothiocyanate and folate as the imaging tracer and targeted ligand, respectively. Relative to the bare MSNs, the lipid-capped MSNs exhibited superior suspensibility in phosphate-buffered saline and much lower nonspecific binding in vitro. Furthermore, enhanced specific cellular uptake by Hela cells occurred after administering the folate-sensitized phospholipid-capped MSNs. Our results suggest that these highly versatile multifunctional MSNs are promising vectors for nanomedicine applications.

Photophysics of Cy3-encapsulated calcium phosphate nanoparticles

Progress toward clinical application of biodegradable fluorescent calcium phosphate (CP) nanoparticles as a bioimaging agent requires detailed knowledge of chromophore interaction with CP. As readouts of this cargo-matrix interaction, we determined the principle photophysical properties of Cy3 encapsulated in CP nanparticles (CPNPs) using steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS)-determined diffusion coefficients and associated hydrodynamic radii confirmed the presence of highly monodisperse CPNPs with radii ranging from 7 to 10 nm. Single CP nanoparticles were 20 times brighter than free dye molecules because of a CP-induced 5-fold increase in quantum efficiency and encapsulation of four dye molecules per particle. Solvatochromic shifts resulting from hydrogen bonding between free dye and solvent or restricted intramolecular mobility by solvent viscosity were absent when Cy3 was encapsulated in CP. Encapsulation-mediated increases in radiative decay rates and decreases in nonradiative decay rates resulting in longer fluorescence lifetimes of Cy3 were attributed to solvent and CP-related local refractive indices and restricted flexibility of dye by rigid CP. Enhanced brightness of CPNPs enabled imaging of single nanoparticles under epifluorescence using both standard and total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) modes with camera exposure times on the order of tens of milliseconds. These enhanced photophysical properties together with excellent biocompatibility make CPNPs ideal for bioimaging applications ranging from single-molecule tracking to in vivo tumor detection and offer the possibility of timed codelivery of drugs to control cell function.

Improved biocompatibility and pharmacokinetics of silica nanoparticles by means of a lipid coating: a multimodality investigation

Silica is a promising carrier material for nanoparticle-facilitated drug delivery, gene therapy, and molecular imaging. Understanding of their pharmacokinetics is important to resolve bioapplicability issues. Here we report an extensive study on bare and lipid-coated silica nanoparticles in mice. Results obtained by use of a wide variety of techniques (fluorescence imaging, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, magnetic resonance imaging, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy) showed that the lipid coating, which enables straightforward functionalization and introduction of multiple properties, increases bioapplicability and improves pharmacokinetics.

The role of serum complement on the organ distribution of intravenously administered poly (methyl methacrylate) nanoparticles: effects of pre-coating with plasma and with serum complement

PURPOSE

The organ distribution of radiolabeled poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanoparticles coated with plasma proteins and serum complement in rats was studied in order to determine the effect of serum complement on the particle phagocytosis by the organs of the reticulo-endothelial system (RES).

METHODS

PMMA-nanoparticles were coated overnight with plasma proteins or serum complement, and injected into Wistar rats. The body distribution of nanoparticles was measured by means of scintillation counting of organ samples. In addition, proteins adsorbed to the particle surface were inactivated by heat treatment prior to injection, and the particle's distribution was measured as described above.

RESULTS

Whereas uncoated nanoparticles (control group) were mainly taken up by the Kupffer cells in the liver, incubation of the particles in plasma for 12 h followed by heat inactivation reduced the particle concentrations in the liver to merely 22% after 30 min. After 120 min, liver concentrations were still lower than the control group, and almost 30% of the administered dose of the heat-inactivated particle group was present in non-RES organs and tissues. Particles with non-inactivated complement were accumulated in the lung at concentrations of 29% after 30 min, which increased to 71% after 120 min, whereas those coated with inactivated complement reached lung concentrations above 70% already after 30 min.

CONCLUSIONS

Particles coated with plasma components are able to avoid uptake by the RES, especially after heat inactivation of the plasma components adsorbed. Adsorption and heat inactivation of complement proteins alone, however, does not have the same result as coating with plasma proteins followed by heat inactivation. Therefore, it is concluded that plasma components other than complement proteins take part in the process of RES activation and phagocytosis of injected nanoparticles.

Drug targeting with nanoparticles

Nanoparticles are colloidal polymeric particles (size < 1000 nm) to which drugs are bound by sorption, incorporation, or chemical binding. After intravenous injection they normally distribute into the organs of the reticuloendothelial system (liver, spleen, lungs, bone marrow). However, their body distribution can be altered by coating with surfactants or with physiological components such as serum complement factors. The influence of these coatings on the body distribution and possible mechanisms for the alteration of this distribution are discussed. Differently coated nanoparticles can be used for the targeting of bound drugs to tumors, to the brain, and to inflamed areas in the body.