Dexamethasone-Loaded Lipomers: Development, Characterization, and Skin Biodistribution Studies.

Follicular targeting has gained more attention in recent decades, due to the possibility of obtaining a depot effect in topical administration and its potential as a tool to treat hair follicle-related diseases. Lipid core ethyl cellulose lipomers were developed and optimized, following which characterization of their physicochemical properties was carried out. Dexamethasone was encapsulated in the lipomers (size, 115 nm; polydispersity, 0.24; zeta-potential (Z-potential), +30 mV) and their in vitro release profiles against dexamethasone in solution were investigated by vertical diffusion Franz cells. The skin biodistribution of the fluorescent-loaded lipomers was observed using confocal microscopy, demonstrating the accumulation of both lipomers and fluorochromes in the hair follicles of pig skin. To confirm this fact, immunofluorescence of the dexamethasone-loaded lipomers was carried out in pig hair follicles. The anti-inflammatory (via TNFα) efficacy of the dexamethasone-loaded lipomers was demonstrated in vitro in an HEK001 human keratinocytes cell culture and the in vitro cytotoxicity of the nanoformulation was investigated.

Remote Activation of Hollow Nanoreactors for Heterogeneous Photocatalysis in Biorelevant Media.

Major current challenges in nano-biotechnology and nano-biomedicine include the implementation of predesigned chemical reactions in biological environments. In this context, heterogeneous catalysis is emerging as a promising approach to extend the richness of organic chemistry onto the complex environments inherent to living systems. Herein we report the design and synthesis of hybrid heterogeneous catalysts capable of being remotely activated by near-infrared (NIR) light for the performance of selective photocatalytic chemical transformations in biological media. This strategy is based on the synergistic integration of Au and TiO2 nanoparticles within mesoporous hollow silica capsules, thus permitting an efficient hot-electron injection from the metal to the semiconductor within the interior of the capsule that leads to a confined production of reactive oxygen species. These hybrid materials can also work as smart NIR-responsive nanoreactors inside living mammalian cells, a cutting-edge advance toward the development of photoresponsive theranostic platforms.

Antitumoral Drug: Loaded Hybrid Nanocapsules Based on Chitosan with Potential Effects in Breast Cancer Therapy.

Cancer remains one of the world's most devastating diseases and is responsible for more than 20% of all deaths. It is defined as uncontrolled proliferation of cells and spreads rapidly to healthy tissue. Controlled drug delivery systems offers great opportunities for the development of new non-invasive strategies for the treatment of cancers. The main advantage of these systems is their capacity to accumulate in tumors via enhanced permeability and retention effects. In the present study, an innovative hybrid drug delivery system based on nanocapsules obtained from the interfacial condensation between chitosan and poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone-alt-itaconic anhydride) and containing both magnetic nanoparticles and an antitumoral drug was developed in order to improve the efficiency of the antitumoral treatment. Using dynamic light scattering, it was observed that the mean diameter of these hybrid nanocapsules was in the range of 43 to 142 nm. SEM confirmed their nanometric size and their well-defined spherical shape. These nanocapsules allowed the encapsulation of an increased amount of 5-fluorouracil and provided controlled drug release. In vitro studies have revealed that these drug-loaded hybrid nanocapsules were able to induce a cytostatic effect on breast carcinoma MCF-7 cell lines (Human Caucasian breast adenocarcinoma - HTB-22) comparable to that of the free drug.

Localized drug release and effective chemotherapy by hyperthermia-governed bubble-generating hybrid nanocapsule system.

AIM: To build up a remote triggering drug delivery system with hyperthermia-responsive ammonium bicarbonate salt and investigate its effects on tumor therapy. MATERIALS & METHODS: This hybrid nanocapsule system was prepared by a different strategy, doxorubicin (DOX) was encapsulated in the heparin shell first and then ammonium bicarbonate was diffused into the nanocapsules to generate DOX-bicarbonate salt, its characterizations and effects on tumor therapy were investigated. RESULTS: Upon exposure to mild external thermal treatment (42°C), DOX-bicarbonate salt began to decompose with the recovery of DOX fluorescence, carbon dioxide generation and rapid DOX release out of the nanocapsules, exhibiting great abilities to accumulate at tumor site rapidly and inhibit tumor cell growth. CONCLUSION: These hybrid nanocapsules demonstrate great potential in clinical applications triggering by external thermal treatment.

Fluorescence and drug loading properties of ZnSe:Mn/ZnS-Paclitaxel/SiO2 nanocapsules templated by F127 micelles.

Hydrophobic ZnSe:Mn/ZnS core-shell fluorescence quantum dots (QDs) and anticancer drug paclitaxel (PTX) have been co-loaded into folate conjugated hybrid silica nanocapsules via F127 micelles based soft-template method in a mild aqueous environment at room temperature. The encapsulation of QDs shows a F127: QDs mass ratio dependent behavior, which impact much on the morphology and optical properties of composite nanocapsules. These as prepared composite nanocapsules also exhibit good photoluminescence stability under the temperature ranges from 19°C to 49°C. In addition, the aqueous solubility of PTX (0.1µg/mL) can be efficiently enhanced about 630 times to 62.99µg/mL, and the loaded PTX could be released during 12h sustainably. These tunable fluorescence, enhanced drug loading efficiency and sustained release behavior manifest that the hybrid nanocapsule is a promising theranostic nanoplatform for future combined fluorescence imaging and chemotherapy.