Topical application of zein-silk sericin nanoparticles loaded with curcumin for improved therapy of dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis is characterized by leukocyte migration into the skin dermis and typically driven by excessive chemokine production at the site of inflammation. Conventional topical formulations such as gels, creams, and ointments are insufficient for this treatment because of low penetration of drug molecules into the targeted skin tissues. Herein, using a simple, green, sustainable strategy, we have developed novel primary zein nanoparticles embedded in curcumin (Cur) and coated with silk sericin (ZHSCs) for the topical delivery of Cur to penetrate into the dermis and exercise anti-dermatitis effects on the lesion with minimal side-effects. Transdermal delivery experiments and porcine skin fluorescence imaging indicated that ZHSCs facilitate the penetration of Cur across the epidermis layer of skin to reach deep-seated sites. Notably, ZHSCs = 1:0.25 (zein-to-silk sericin mass ratios of 1:0.25) markedly elevated the skin permeability and cumulative turnover of Cur transferred, which were provided a greater than a 3.8-fold increase relative to free Cur. The special nanoparticles of ZHS = 1:0.25 possessed the deepest localization depth and experience a transition of the particle structure and core-shell separation after penetrating into the dermis of skin. In a cell model of dermatitis induced by tumor necrosis factor α/interferon γ co-stimulation, compared with free Cur, Cur-loaded ZHS nanoparticles down-regulated the generation of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in keratinocytes through suppression of the nuclear translocation of NF-κBp65 and hence exerted an anti-dermatitis effect. This strategy may provide new avenues and direction for the demanding issues of valid topical delivery systems.     

Dendritic polyurethane-based prodrug as unimolecular micelles for precise ultrasound-activated localized drug delivery

Ultrasound has been recognized as an exciting tool to enhance the therapeutic efficacy in tumor chemotherapy owing to the triggered drug release, facilitated intracellular drug delivery, and improved spatial precision. Aiming for a precise localized drug delivery, novel dendritic polyurethane-based prodrug (DOX-DPU-PEG) was fabricated with a drug content of 18.9% here by conjugating DOX onto the end groups of the functionalized dendritic polyurethane via acid-labile imine bonds. It could easily form unimolecular micelles around 38 nm. Compared with the non-covalently drug-loaded unimolecular micelles (DOX@Ph-DPU-PEG), they showed excellent pH/ultrasound dual-triggered drug release performance, with drug leakage of only 4% at pH 7.4, but cumulative release of 14% and 88% at pH 5.0 without and with ultrasound, respectively. The ultrasound responsiveness was attributed to the unique strawberry-shaped topological structure of the DOX-DPU-PEG, in which DOX was embedded in the skin layer of the hydrophobic DPU cores. With ultrasound, the DOX-DPU-PEG unimolecular micelles possessed enhanced tumor growth inhibition than free DOX but showed no obvious cytotoxicity on the tumor cells without ultrasound. Such feature makes them promising potential for precise localized drug delivery.     

Deciphering the Structure and Chemical Composition of Drug Nanocarriers: From Bulk Approaches to Individual Nanoparticle Characterization

Drug nanocarriers (NCs) with sizes usually below 200 nm are gaining increasing interest in the treatment of severe diseases such as cancer and infections. Characterization methods to investigate the morphology and physicochemical properties of multifunctional NCs are key in their optimization and in the study of their in vitro and in vivo fate. Whereas a variety of methods has been developed to characterize “bulk” NCs in suspension, the scope of this review is to describe the different approaches for the NC characterization on an individual basis, for which fewer techniques are available. The accent is put on methods devoid of labelling, which could lead to artefacts. For each characterization method, the principles and approaches to analyze the data are presented in an accessible manner. Aspects related to sample preparation to avoid artefacts are indicated, and emphasis is put on examples of applications. NC characterization on an individual basis allows gaining invaluable information in terms of quality control, on: i) NC localization and fate in biological samples; ii) NC morphology and crystallinity; iii) distribution of the NC components (drugs, shells), and iv) quantification of NCs’ chemical composition. The individual characterization approaches are expected to gain increasing interest in the near future.     

Improved Method for the Total Synthesis of Azaperone and Investigation of Its Electrochemical Behavior in Aqueous Solution

Azaperone, with anti-anxiety and anti-aggressive activities used in veterinary medicine, is a member of the butyrophenone class. It is ordinarily utilized for a wide range of indications, such as sedation, obstetrics, and anesthesia. In this research, an improved synthetic route is presented for azaperone using a phase-transfer catalyst(PTC). In general, it was synthesized as a dopamine antagonist in four steps. The bis(2-chloroethyl) amine intermediate is easily obtained after the conversion of the alcohol groups into the chloride leaving group using thionyl chloride(95% yields). The alkylation of commercially available 2-amino pyridine in the presence of PTC was then carried out, giving 1-(pyridin-2-yl) piperazine with 75% yield. 1-(Pyridin-2-yl) piperazine was finally alkylated using 4-chloro-1-(4-fluorophenyl) butan-1-one to achieve azaperone with 60% yield. The butyrophenone intermediate was obtained via the Friedel-Crafts reaction of fluorobenzene with 4-chlorobutyryl chloride in the presence of AlCl₃. High efficiency, gentle reaction conditions, and fast and simple procedure are the advantages of this method. Also, the electrochemical oxidation behaviour of azaperone was investigated using cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry techniques. Cyclic voltammetric studies indicated an irreversible process for azaperone electro-oxidation with a peak potential of 0.78 V in a phosphate buffer solution(pH=7.0) vs. Ag/AgCl(saturated KCl) electrode. The value of the peak current vs. the azaperone concentration was enhanced linearly in the range of 10―70 μmol/L, and the detection limit was found to be 3.33 μmol/L.     

Redox‐responsive Fluorescent Nanoparticles Based on Diselenide‐containing AIEgens for Cell Imaging and Selective Cancer Therapy

A fluorescent, diselenide‐containing 9,10‐distyrylanthracene (DSA) derivative (SeDSA) with aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) characteristic was successfully synthesized and SeDSA nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared through a nanoprecipitation method. SeDSA could coassemble with an antitumor prodrug, diselenide‐containing paclitaxel (SePTX), which could be obtained by precipitation, to form SeDSA‐SePTX Co‐NPs (Co‐NPs). Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations reveal that the driving forces for the self‐assembly behaviors of SeDSA NPs and SePTX NPs are π–π interactions and hydrophobic interactions, respectively, while the driving forces for Co‐NPs include hydrophobic interactions between SeDSA and SePTX, π–π interactions between SeDSA molecules and hydrophobic interactions between SePTX molecules. Meanwhile, Se‐Se bonds play a crucial role in balancing the intramolecular forces. These diselenide‐containing nanoparticles (SeDSA NPs, SePTX NPs and Co‐NPs) exhibit a high stability under physiological conditions and excellent reduction‐sensitivity in the presence of the redox agent glutathione (GSH) because of the selenium‐sulfur exchange reaction between diselenide and GSH. Both SeDSA NPs and Co‐NPs show strong orange fluorescence emissions on the account of the AIE feature of SeDSA and they were easily internalized by HeLa and HepG2 cells. Distinctively, the Co‐NPs combine the advantage of SeDSA and SePTX for cell imaging and antineoplastic activity, and exhibit selectivity of cytotoxicities between neoplasia cells and normal cells. This study highlights the development of diselenide‐containing AIEgens as a unique approach to prepare uniform and stable fluorescent nanoparticles for the application in cell imaging and tumor treatment.     

Decision diagrams for solving traveling salesman problems with pickup and delivery in real time

The Traveling Salesman Problem with Pickup and Delivery seeks a minimum cost path with pickups preceding deliveries. It is important in on-demand last-mile logistics, such as ride sharing and meal delivery. We examine the use of low-width Decision Diagrams in a branch-and-bound with and without Assignment Problem inference duals as a primal heuristic for finding good solutions within strict time budgets. We show these diagrams can be more effective than similarly structured hybrid Constraint Programming techniques for real-time decision making.     

Novel drug‐eluting soy‐protein structures for wound healing applications

Naturally derived materials are becoming widely used in the biomedical field. Soy protein has advantages over the various types of natural proteins employed for biomedical applications due to its low price, nonanimal origin, and relatively long storage time and stability. In the current study, novel drug‐eluting soy‐protein films for wound healing applications were developed and studied. The films were prepared using the solvent casting technique. The analgesic drug bupivacaine and two types of wide range antibiotics (gentamicin and clindamycin) were incorporated into the soy‐protein films. The effect of drug incorporation and plasticizers content on the films' mechanical properties, drug release profiles, and cell viability was studied. Drug incorporation had a softening effect of the films, lowering mechanical strength and increasing ductility. Release profiles of bupivacaine and clindamycin exhibited high burst release of 80% to 90% of encapsulated drug within 6 hours, followed by continuous release in a decreasing rate for a period of 2 to 4 days. Gentamicin release was prolonged, probably due to interaction between the gentamicin and the polymer chains. Hybrid soy‐protein/poly (Dl‐lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) (PDLGA) microspheres structure showed potential for long and sustained release of bupivacaine. Films with no drugs and films loaded with gentamicin were found to be noncytotoxic for human fibroblasts, while bupivacaine and clindamycin were found to have some effect on cell growth. In conclusion, our new drug‐loaded soy‐protein films combine good mechanical properties and biocompatibility, with desired drug release profiles, and can therefore be potentially very useful as burn and ulcer dressings.     

Hybrid cross‐linked hydrogels as a technology platform for in vitro release of cephradine

Hydrogel‐based drug delivery systems can leverage therapeutically favorable upshots of drug release and found clinical uses. Hydrogels offer temporal and spatial control over the release of different therapeutic agents. Because of their tailor made controllable degradability, physical properties, and ability to prevent the labile drugs from degradation, hydrogels provide platform on which diverse physicochemical interactions with entrapped drugs cause to control drug release. Herein, we report the fabrication of novel vinyltrimethoxy silane (VTMS) cross‐linked chitosan/polyvinyl pyrrolidone hydrogels. Swelling in distilled water in conjunction with different buffer and electrolyte solutions was performed to assess the swellability of hydrogels. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis were further conducted to investigate the possible interactions between components, thermal stability, and crystallinity of as‐prepared hybrid hydrogels, respectively. In vitro time‐dependent biodegradability, antimicrobial study, and cytotoxicity were also carried out to evaluate their extensive biocompatibility and cytotoxic behavior. More interestingly, in vitro drug release study allowed for the controlled release of cephradine. Therefore, this facile strategy developed the novel biocompatible and biodegradable hybrid hydrogels, which could significantly expand the scope of these hydrogels in other biomedical applications like scaffolds, skin regeneration, tissue engineering, etc.     

Hydrogen-Bond Cyclization Programming of Ultrasensitive Esters and Its Application in Gene Delivery

The ester bond as a universal linker has recently been applied in gene delivery systems owing to its efficient gene release by electrostatic repulsion after its cleavage. However, the ester bond is nonlabile and is difficult to cleave in cells. This work reports a method in which a secondary amine was introduced to the β-position of the ester bond to generate a hydrogen-bond cyclization (HBC) structure that can make the ester bond hydrolysis ultrafast. A series of molecules comprising ultrasensitive esters that can be activated by H₂O₂ were synthesized, and it was found that those able to form an HBC structure showed complete ester hydrolysis within 5 h in both water and phosphate-buffered saline solution, which was several times faster than other methods reported. Then, a series of amphiphilic poly(amidoamine) dendrimers were constructed, comprising the ultrasensitive ester groups for gene delivery; it was found that they could effectively release genes under quite a low concentration of H₂O₂ (<200 μm ) and transport them into the nucleus within 2 h in Hela cells with high safety. Their gene transfection efficiencies were higher than that of PEI_25k. The results demonstrated that the hydrogen-bond-induced ultrasensitive esters could be powerfully applied to construct gene delivery systems.     

Recent developments in Pickering emulsions for biomedical applications

Pickering emulsions, stabilised by organic or inorganic particles, offer long-term dispersibility of liquid droplets and resistance to coalescence. The versatility of stabilising particles and their ability to encapsulate and release cargo with high internal payload capacity makes them attractive in a wide variety of applications, ranging from catalysis to the cosmetic and food industry. While these properties make them an equally promising material platform for pharmaceutical and clinical applications, the development of Pickering emulsions for healthcare is still in its infancy. Herein, we summarise and discuss recent progress in the development of Pickering emulsions for biomedical applications, probing their design for passive diffusion-based release as well as stimuli-responsive destabilisation. We further comment on challenges and future directions of this exciting and rapidly expanding area of research.