Search results for "nanogel"

Radiation-Engineered Multi-Functional Nanogels As Nanoscale Building Blocks Of Useful Biomedical Devices

2011

Radiation-engineered multifunctional nanogels: a versatile platform with theranostic capabilities for cancer

2018

Under a rational desing, combining biologically active molecules, ligand to specific cell receptors and fluorescent, radioactive or paramagnetic labels into a single nano-object can bride the unique properties of the individual components and impruve conventional sensing, imaging and therapeutic efficaces.

Radiation Engineering of Multifunctional Nanogels

2016

Nanogels combine the favourable properties of hydrogels with those of colloids. They can be soft and conformable, stimuli-responsive and highly permeable, and can expose a large surface with functional groups for conjugation to small and large molecules, and even macromolecules. They are among the very few systems that can be generated and used as aqueous dispersions. Nanogels are emerging materials for targeted drug delivery and bio-imaging, but they have also shown potential for water purification and in catalysis. The possibility of manufacturing nanogels with a simple process and at relatively low cost is a key criterion for their continued development and successful application. This p…

Glutathione-sensitive nanogels for drug release

2014

Nanogels (NGs) synthesized by pulsed electron-beam irradiation of semi-dilute poly (N-vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) aqueous solutions, at relatively low energy per pulse and doses within the sterilization dose range, represent a very interesting family of polymeric nanocarriers. Ionizing irradiation-induced crosslinking of PVP allows to control particle size, and surface chemistry of the polymer nanoparticles without making use of catalysts, organic solvents or surfactants, and with beneficial effects onto the purity and hence biocompatibility of the final products obtained. Furthermore, the availability of reactive functional groups, either generated by the radiation or purposely grafted via co…

Water-borne e-beam crosslinked nanogels as nanomaterials platform for drug delivery

2014

Radiation-engineered polymer nano-platforms for targeted drug delivery

2016

In the last twenty years, several nanobiomaterial-based nanocarriers, so-called nanoplatforms, have been proposed for the treatment of life- threating or quality-of-life-impairing diseases. The role of the nanocarrier is to increase drug localisation via passive and active targeting, to protect the drug from degradation and premature clearance, to facilitate its bypass through biological barriers and increase uptake by cells. For a successful translational research, the system composition should be as simple as possible, and the manufacturing processes should be fast, flexible and should enable a rapid product development from lab-scale to low cost, large-scale production. With this focus, …

Polymeric and bio-hybrid nanovectors for drug delivery and imaging devices.

2014

Nanotechnology applied to the Medicine is providing new tools to the current therapeutic and diagnostic approaches to fight cancer and other diseases. However, many of the proposed nanodevices show some deficits related to both their inherent properties and performance, and the synthetic strategies proposed for their production. In the present work, a new promising approach based on e-beam radiation-induced radical crosslinking of a water soluble, biocompatible synthetic polymer has been developed. In particular, the possibility of generating Poly-N-(Vinyl- Pyrrolidone)(PVP)-based nanocarriers, i.e. nanogels with a base PVP structure, tailored physico-chemical properties (particles size dis…

Synthesis and modification of functional polymer nanogels using pulsed-electron beam ionising irradiation

2016

Nanogels made of bio-compatible hydrophilic polymers can be used in various medical applications such as targeted nano-medicine delivery and imaging agents. Intravenously introduced nanogel-drug conjugates may accumulate in tumors through the enhanced permeability and retention effect. We present our latest results on the synthesis and kinetic analysis of two nanogel systems (1) poly)vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) and (2) gelation/polyethylene glycol (GEL/PEG) using ionizing irradiation (g-ray, electron beams). The characteristics of nanogels depend on the radiation synthesis parameters (e.g. total dose, pulse repetition rate, etc.). Specifically, one may tune the parameters to promote the crossl…

Structure and biological evaluation of amino-functionalized PVP nanogels for fast cellular internalization

2013

Abstract Aminopropyl methacrylamide chloride-graft-poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) nanogels (NGs) were designed to exploit the favorable properties of poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP), such as its high affinity to water and complexation ability of ions, molecules and macromolecules, with the availability of primary amino groups for bioconjugation reactions. A thorough structural characterization of the nanoscalar networks was performed via 1 H NMR and solid state 13 C NMR spectroscopies, while solid state NMR relaxation time measurements completed the NGs description in terms of polymer network density. Information on the hydrodynamic size and surface charge densities were sought via dynamic light…

Insulin Nanogel as New Strategy for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

2015

A growing body of evidence shows that Insulin, Insulin Receptor (IR) and IR signaling are involved in brain cognitive functions and their dysfunction is implicated in neuronal degeneration associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Thus, the administration of insulin to the brain could be a strategy for the prevention and treatment of AD disease. With this aim, we have designed, synthesized and characterized a nanogel system (NG) that can be used as substrate for the conjugation of insulin and/or fluorescent molecules relevant for their characterization. In particular, a carboxyl-functionalized poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) nanogel system, has been produced by ionizing radiation starting from th…