Molecular Screening Strategy to Identify a Non-invasive Delivery Mechanism for the Treatment of Middle Ear Disorders

Biomaterials for non-invasive trans-tympanic drug delivery: requirements, recent advances and perspectives

Various non-invasive delivery systems have recently been developed as an alternative to conventional injections. Local transdermal administration represents the most attractive method due to the low systemic side effects, excellent ease of administration, and persistent drug release. The tympanic membrane (TM), a major barrier between the outer and middle ear, has a similar structure of the stratum corneum compared to the surface of the skin. After several attempts, non-invasive trans-tympanic drug delivery has been regarded as a promising option in the treatment of middle and inner ear diseases. The round window membrane (RWM) was a possible non-invasive delivery approach from the middle to inner ear. The improved permeability of nanocarriers crossing the RWM is a current hotspot in therapeutics for inner ear diseases. In this review, we include the latest studies exploring non-invasive trans-tympanic delivery to treat middle and inner ear diseases. Both passive and active delivery systems are described. A summary of the benefits and disadvantages of various delivery systems in clinical practice and production procedures is introduced. Finally, future possible approaches for its effective application as a non-invasive middle and inner ear drug delivery system are characterised.

Applications of the phage display technology in molecular biology, biotechnology and medicine

The phage display technology is based on the presentation of peptide sequences on the surface of virions of bacteriophages. Its development led to creation of sophisticated systems based on the possibility of the presentation of a huge variability of peptides, attached to one of proteins of bacteriophage capsids. The use of such systems allowed for achieving enormous advantages in the processes of selection of bioactive molecules. In fact, the phage display technology has been employed in numerous fields of biotechnology, as diverse as immunological and biomedical applications (in both diagnostics and therapy), the formation of novel materials, and many others. In this paper, contrary to many other review articles which were focussed on either specific display systems or the use of phage display in selected fields, we present a comprehensive overview of various possibilities of applications of this technology. We discuss an usefulness of the phage display technology in various fields of science, medicine and the broad sense of biotechnology. This overview indicates the spread and importance of applications of microbial systems (exemplified by the phage display technology), pointing to the possibility of developing such sophisticated tools when advanced molecular methods are used in microbiological studies, accompanied with understanding of details of structures and functions of microbial entities (bacteriophages in this case).

[Phage therapy of purulent-inflammatory pathology of the outer and middle ear]

The steady growth of antibiotic resistance of bacteria and, as a result, difficulties in selecting effective drugs determine the search for an alternative strategy for the use of antimicrobials, and therapy based on the use of bacteriophages is such. Phage therapy in otorhinolaryngology is actively used for the treatment of rhinosinusitis, diseases of the pharynx and larynx. However, it should be noted that the use of this group of drugs in the treatment of ear diseases is not sufficiently covered. Currently, institutes and clinics around the world are undergoing many large multicenter studies aimed not only at finding effective bacteriophages against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but also at isolating their enzymes (lysines), expression of transport proteins, genetic modifications that lead to the restoration of the sensitivity of bacteria to antimicrobial drugs. In this review, we sought to highlight modern works concerning the treatment of inflammatory ear diseases with bacteriophage preparations, the results of microbiological studies conducted in vitro, the main purpose of which was to combat multi-resistant strains of microorganisms - pathogens of purulent-inflammatory diseases of the outer and middle ear.