Elasticity in Macrophage-Synthesized Biocrystals.

Supramolecular crystalline assembly constitutes a rational approach to bioengineer intracellular structures. Here, biocrystals of clofazimine (CFZ) that form in vivo within macrophages were measured to have marked curvature. Isolated crystals, however, showed reduced curvature suggesting that intracellular forces bend these drug crystals. Consistent with the ability of biocrystals to elastically deform, the inherent crystal structure of the principal molecular component of the biocrystals-the hydrochloride salt of CFZ (CFZ-HCl)-has a corrugated packing along the (001) face and weak dispersive bonding in multiple directions. These characteristics were previously found to be linked to the elasticity of other organic crystals. Internal stress in bent CFZ-HCl led to photoelastic effects on the azimuthal orientation of polarized light transmittance. We propose that elastic, intracellular crystals can serve as templates to construct functional microdevices with different applications.

Solution Coating of Pharmaceutical Nanothin Films and Multilayer Nanocomposites with Controlled Morphology and Polymorphism.

Nanosizing is rapidly emerging as an alternative approach to enhance solubility and thus the bioavailability of poorly aqueous soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Although numerous techniques have been developed to perform nanosizing of API crystals, precise control and modulation of their size in an energy and material efficient manner remains challenging. In this study, we present meniscus-guided solution coating as a new technique to produce pharmaceutical thin films of nanoscale thickness with controlled morphology. We demonstrate control of aspirin film thickness over more than 2 orders of magnitude, from 30 nm to 1.5 µm. By varying simple process parameters such as the coating speed and the solution concentration, the aspirin film morphology can also be modulated by accessing different coating regimes, namely the evaporation regime and the Landau-Levich regime. Using ellipticine-a poorly water-soluble anticancer drug-as another model compound, we discovered a new polymorph kinetically trapped during solution coating. Furthermore, the polymorphic outcome can be controlled by varying coating conditions. We further performed layer-by-layer coating of multilayer nanocomposites, with alternating thin films of ellipticine and a biocompatible polymer, which demonstrate the potential of additive manufacturing of multidrug-personalized dosage forms using this approach.

Crystal structure of a 2:1 piroxicam-gentisic acid co-crystal featuring neutral and zwitterionic piroxicam mol-ecules.

A new 2:1 co-crystal of piroxicam and gentisic acid [systematic name: 4-hy-droxy-1,1-dioxo-N-(pyridin-2-yl)-2H-1λ6,2-benzo-thia-zine-3-carboxamide-2-(4-oxido-1,1-dioxo-2H-1λ6,2-benzo-thia-zine-3-amido)-pyridin-1-ium-2,5-di-hydroxy-benzoic acid, 2C15H13N3O4S·C7H6O4] has been synthesized using a microfluidic platform and initially identified using Raman spectroscopy. In the co-crystal, one piroxicam mol-ecule is in its neutral form and an intra-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bond is observed. The other piroxicam mol-ecule is zwitterionic (proton transfer from the OH group to the pyridine N atom) and two intra-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds occur. The gentisic acid mol-ecule shows whole-mol-ecule disorder over two sets of sites in a 0.809 (2):0.191 (2) ratio. In the crystal, extensive hydrogen bonding between the components forms layers propagating in the ab plane.