Search results for "DELIVERY SYSTEMS"
showing 10 items of 322 documents
Highly Homogeneous Biotinylated Carbon Nanodots: Red-Emitting Nanoheaters as Theranostic Agents toward Precision Cancer Medicine
2019
Very recent red-emissive carbon nanodots (CDs) have shown potential as near-infrared converting tools to produce local heat useful in cancer theranostics. Besides, CDs seem very appealing for clinical applications combining hyperthermia, imaging, and drug delivery in a single platform capable of selectively targeting cancer cells. However, CDs still suffer from dramatic dot-to-dot variability issues such that a rational design of their structural, optical, and chemical characteristics for medical applications has been impossible so far. Herein, we report for the first time a simple and highly controllable layer-by-layer synthesis of biotin-decorated CDs with monodisperse size distribution, …
Development of injectable and durable kefiran hydro-alcoholic gels.
2020
Injectable, in-situ forming kefiran gels have been developed for potential applications as implantable drug delivery devices or scaffolds for tissue regeneration. Concentrated solutions (4, 5 and 6%w) of kefiran, extracted from kefir grains, have been assessed in term of viscosity and injectability through G26 syringe needles, and for their ability to undergo gelation upon mixing with different alcohols. Propylene glycol (PG) has been selected as gelling agent because it ensures homogenous gelation in relatively short times (from few minutes up to 6 h). The investigation of the rheological behavior of kefiran/PG gels varying polymer concentration and temperature (25 degrees C and 37 degrees…
Disparity between Inter-Patient Molecular Heterogeneity and Repertoires of Target Drugs Used for Different Types of Cancer in Clinical Oncology
2020
Inter-patient molecular heterogeneity is the major declared driver of an expanding variety of anticancer drugs and personalizing their prescriptions. Here, we compared interpatient molecular heterogeneities of tumors and repertoires of drugs or their molecular targets currently in use in clinical oncology. We estimated molecular heterogeneity using genomic (whole exome sequencing) and transcriptomic (RNA sequencing) data for 4890 tumors taken from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. For thirteen major cancer types, we compared heterogeneities at the levels of mutations and gene expression with the repertoires of targeted therapeutics and their molecular targets accepted by the current guideli…
Inhalable polymer-glycerosomes as safe and effective carriers for rifampicin delivery to the lungs
2016
Rifampicin loaded glycerosomes, vesicles composed of phospholipids, glycerol and water, were combined with trimethyl chitosan chloride (TMC) to prepare TMC-glycerosomes or, alternatively, with sodium hyaluronate (HY) to obtain HY-glycerosomes. These new hybrid nanovesicles were tested as carriers for pulmonary delivery of rifampicin. Glycerosomes without polymers were also prepared and characterized. All vesicles were similar: they were spherical, multilamellar and able to incorporate good amount of rifampicin (EE%∼55%). The addition of the polymers to the formulations allowed an increase of mean diameter. All the glycerosomes, in particular HY-glycerosomes, were able to deliver the drug to…
New biodegradable hydrogels based on a photocrosslinkable modified polyaspartamide: synthesis and characterization
1999
Abstract α,β-Poly( N -2-hydroxyethyl)- dl -aspartamide (PHEA), a synthetic water-soluble biocompatible polymer, was derivatized with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), in order to introduce in its structure chemical residues having double bonds and ester groups. The obtained copolymer (PHG) contained 29 mol% of GMA residues. PHG aqueous solutions at various concentrations ranging from 30 to 70 mg/ml were exposed to a source of UV rays at λ 254 nm in the presence or in the absence of N , N ′-methylenebisacrylamide (BIS); the formation of compact gel phases was observed beginning from 50 mg/ml. The obtained networks were characterized by FT-IR spectrophotometry and swelling measurements which evide…
The Health Risks of Electronic Cigarettes Use in Adolescents
2020
The evidence to date suggests that vaping is not a safe alternative to smoking tobacco. This, coupled with the worrying trend of young nonsmokers being attracted to vaping, raises fears of yet another generation suffering from chronic lung disease and other acute and chronic health conditions. Finally, due to the insufficient regulations in several countries, up-to-date data on the prevalence of e-cigarette use and studies on the health's implications of their use are urgently needed to inform policy at a national and international level (ie, European Union). Pediatricians are typically on the front line for identifying emerging risks for children and adolescents ; therefore, they may effec…
Histidine-rich glycoprotein-induced vascular normalization improves EPR-mediated drug targeting to and into tumors
2018
Tumors are characterized by leaky blood vessels, and by an abnormal and heterogeneous vascular network. These pathophysiological characteristics contribute to the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect, which is one of the key rationales for developing tumor-targeted drug delivery systems. Vessel abnormality and heterogeneity, however, which typically result from excessive pro-angiogenic signaling, can also hinder efficient drug delivery to and into tumors. Using histidine-rich glycoprotein (HRG) knockout and wild type mice, and HRG-overexpressing and normal t241 fibrosarcoma cells, we evaluated the effect of genetically induced and macrophage-mediated vascular normalization on th…
Synthesis and Characterization of Stimuli-Responsive Star-Like Polypept(o)ides: Introducing Biodegradable PeptoStars
2017
tar-like polymers are one of the smallest systems in the class of core crosslinked polymeric nanoparticles. This article reports on a versatile, straightforward synthesis of three-arm star-like polypept(o)ide (polysarcosine-block-polylysine) polymers, which are designed to be either stable or degradable at elevated levels of glutathione. Polypept(o)ides are a recently introduced class of polymers combining the stealth-like properties of the polypeptoid polysarcosine with the functionality of polypeptides, thus enabling the synthesis of materials completely based on endogenous amino acids. The star-like homo and block copolymers are synthesized by living nucleophilic ring opening polymerizat…
Rapid Access to Polyfunctional Lipids with Complex Architecture via Oxyanionic Ring-Opening Polymerization
2011
Polymer-coated liposomes, particularly poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-substituted liposomes, have emerged as long-circulating carrier systems for drug delivery and diagnostic purposes. A rapid synthesis of three different types of multifunctional lipids with structurally diverse hydrophilic, polyether-based architectures via one- or two-pot approaches is described. Architectural variation is achieved by the combination of different oxyanionic polymerization strategies and various glycidyl ether building units. Branched polyglycerol lipids have been prepared via cholesterol- or 1,2-bis-n-alkyl glyceryl ether-initiated, oxyanionic ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of protected glycidyl ethers an…
Towards chemical communication between gated nanoparticles.
2014
The design of comparatively simple and modularly configurable artificial systems able to communicate through the exchange of chemical messengers is, to the best of our knowledge, an unexplored field. As a proof-of-concept, we present here a family of nanoparticles that have been designed to communicate with one another in a hierarchical manner. The concept involves the use of capped mesoporous silica supports in which the messenger delivered by a first type of gated nanoparticle is used to open a second type of nanoparticle, which delivers another messenger that opens a third group of gated nanoobjects.We believe that the conceptual idea that nanodevices can be designed to communicate with …