Membrane-coated nanoparticles as a biomimetic targeted delivery system for tumour therapy

Drug therapy towards tumours often causes adverse effects because of their non-specific nature.Membrane-coated technology and membrane-coated nanoparticles provide an advanced and promising platform of targeted and safe delivery.By camouflaging the nanoparticles with natural derived or artificially modified cell membranes,the nano-payloads are bestowed with properties from cell membranes such as longer circulation,tumour or inflammation-targeting,immune stimulation,augmenting the performance of traditional therapeutics.In this review,we review the development of membrane coating technology,and summarise the technical details,physicochemical properties,and research status of membrane-coated nanoparticles from different sources in tumour treatment.Finally,we also look forward to the prospects and challenges of transforming membrane coating technology from experiment into clinical use.Taken together,membrane-coated nanoparticles are bound to become one of the most potential anti-tumour strategies in the future.

Anti-Parkinsonian Therapy:Strategies for Crossing the Blood–Brain Barrier and Nano-Biological Effects of Nanomaterials

Parkinson’s disease(PD),a neurodegenerative disease that shows a high incidence in older individuals,is becoming increasingly prevalent.Unfortunately,there is no clinical cure for PD,and novel anti-PD drugs are therefore urgently required.However,the selective permeability of the blood–brain barrier(BBB)poses a huge challenge in the development of such drugs.Fortunately,through strategies based on the physiological characteristics of the BBB and other modifications,including enhancement of BBB permeability,nanotechnology can offer a solution to this problem and facilitate drug delivery across the BBB.Although nanomaterials are often used as carriers for PD treatment,their biological activity is ignored.Several studies in recent years have shown that nanomaterials can improve PD symptoms via their own nano-bio effects.In this review,we first summarize the physiological features of the BBB and then discuss the design of appropriate brain-targeted delivery nanoplatforms for PD treatment.Subsequently,we highlight the emerging strategies for crossing the BBB and the development of novel nanomaterials with anti-PD nano-biological effects.Finally,we discuss the current challenges in nanomaterial-based PD treatment and the future trends in this field.Our review emphasizes the clinical value of nanotechnology in PD treatment based on recent patents and could guide researchers working in this area in the future.

Editorial for biomimetic nanoparticles for drug delivery

The origins of controlled release drug delivery could be dated back to the 1950s.The Spansule technology was developed to deliver a drug for 12 h in 1952.Compared with taking a drug every 6 h or every8 h,twice-a-day formulation was revolutionary in improving the patients’compliance and convenience1.Since then,advances in drug delivery technologies have introduced numerous formulations

Editor Profile: Guest Editor of Special Issue on Biomimetic Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery

Dr.Jianxin Wang is a professor of pharmaceutics at Fudan University,School of Pharmacy.He received his Ph.D.in pharmaceutics from West China University of Medical Sciences in 1999.He worked for Shanghai Institute of Chinese Materia Medica from July 1999 to April 2005.Dr.Wang became a faculty member of School of Pharmacy,Fudan University in 2005.He worked as a visiting scholar in the College of Pharmacy,

Synergistic anti-tumor therapy by a homotypic cell membranecloaked biomimetic nanocarrier with exceptionally potent activity against hepatic carcinoma

Hepatic carcinoma(HC)is the sixth most frequently occurring malignancies and the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide.Sepantronium bromide(YM155)is a small molecule inhibitor of survivin,which has broad-spectrum anticancer therapeutic effects in various xenograft models.However,several-day continuous infusion is required to achieve greater antitumor efficacy because of rapid elimination from the blood circulation.Herein,a SMMC-7721 cancerous cyto-membrane-cloaked drug delivery system(DDS)(named as iM7721@GQD-YM),was developed for co-encapsulation of YM155 and graphene quantum dots(GQDs).Cytomembrane coating endowed iM7721@GQD-YM with effective targeting for homologous HC cells,excellent biocompatibility and favorable immunocompatibility for in vivo application.Surface decoration of iRGD peptide further enhanced its tumor targeting activity by iRGD-integrin recognition.In addition,under the irradiation of near-infrared ray(NIR),GQDs can directly kill tumors through photothermal effect and cause cell membrane rupture,accurately releasing YM155 at tumor sites.The physicochemical properties,in vivo and ex vivo anti-tumor efficacy,and mechanisms of iM7721@GQD-YM nanoparticles(NPs)were systematically investigated in this work.The experimental results clearly indicate that the versatile biomimetic DDS holds great potential for the treatment of HC,which merits further investigation in both pre-clinical and clinical studies.

Improved method for synthesis of low molecular weight protamine–siRNA conjugate

RNAi technology has aroused wide public interest due to its high efficiency and specificity to treat multiple types of diseases. However, the effective delivery of siRNA remains a challenge due to its large molecular weight and strong anionic charge. Considering their remarkable functions in vivo and features that are often desired in drug delivery carriers, biomimetic systems for siRNA delivery become an effective and promising strategy. Based on this, covalent attachment of synthetic cell penetrating peptides(CPP) to siRNA has become of great interest. We developed a monomeric covalent conjugate of low molecular weight protamine(LMWP, a well-established CPP) and siRNA via a cytosol-cleavable disulfide linkage using PEG as a crosslinker. Results showed that the conjugates didn't generate coagulation, and exhibited much better RNAi potency and intracellular delivery compared with the conventional charge-complexed CPP/siRNA aggregates. Three different synthetic and purification methods were compared in order to optimize synthesis efficiency and product yield. The methodology using hetero-bifunctional NHS–PEG–OPSS as a crosslinker to synthesize LMWP–siRNA simplified the synthesis and purification process and produced the highest yield. These results pave the way towards siRNA biomimetic delivery and future clinical translation.