Advances in Nanomaterials for Drug Delivery and Controlled Drug Release

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Biology and Medicines".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2023) | Viewed by 4881

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. i3S—Institute for Research and Innovation in Health, University of Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen, 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
2. INEB—Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen, 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
3. CESPU—Institute for Research and Advanced Training in Health Sciences and Technologies, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal
Interests: drug delivery; infectious diseases; nanomedicine; nanotechnology; pharmaceutics; women’s health
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nanomedicine has gone a long way since its inception as a medicine-related nanotechnology gimmick in the 1990s, and has now seen the successful launch of multiple drug products in the market for diagnostics, imaging, therapy, prophylaxis and regenerative medicine. Among other examples, and likely the most notorious these days, are the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, which rely on the use of lipid nanoparticles to intracellularly deliver its active payload and induce a protective immune response against SARS-CoV-2. Indeed, the central role that many differently engineered nanomaterials used as carriers play in the outcome of nanomedicines cannot be emphasized enough and is dependent on their ability to target different sites of interest and release incorporated active payloads at adequate rates. Advances in the development and characterization of nanomaterials for medical applications have indeed been tremendous and justify the launching of this Special Issue. As guest editor, I would like to encourage potential contributors to submit their finest research work in the format of full papers or communications, as well as critical reviews, in all aspects pertaining to nanomaterials intended for the delivery and/or controlled release of drugs (small molecules, biopharmaceuticals, contrast agents, etc.), and that could be useful for human or veterinary diagnostics, imaging, therapy, prophylaxis or regenerative medicine.

Dr. José das Neves
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Biomaterials
  • Diagnostics
  • Drug Products
  • Gene Delivery
  • Medical Imaging
  • Materials Science
  • Nanocarriers
  • Nanodrugs
  • Nanomedicine
  • Nanopharmacology
  • Nanotechnology
  • Nanotherapeutics
  • Nanotoxicology
  • Disease Prophylaxis
  • Regenerative Medicine
  • Targeted Therapy

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 5228 KiB  
Article
Antimicrobial Activity of Gelatin Nanofibers Enriched by Essential Oils against Cutibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus epidermidis
by Renata Uhlířová, Denisa Langová, Agáta Bendová, Michal Gross, Petra Skoumalová and Ivana Márová
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(5), 844; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13050844 - 24 Feb 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2465
Abstract
Acne vulgaris is a prevalent skin condition that is caused by an imbalance in skin microbiomes mainly by the overgrowth of strains such as Cutibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus epidermidis which affect both teenagers and adults. Drug resistance, dosing, mood alteration, and other issues [...] Read more.
Acne vulgaris is a prevalent skin condition that is caused by an imbalance in skin microbiomes mainly by the overgrowth of strains such as Cutibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus epidermidis which affect both teenagers and adults. Drug resistance, dosing, mood alteration, and other issues hinder traditional therapy. This study aimed to create a novel dissolvable nanofiber patch containing essential oils (EOs) from Lavandula angustifolia and Mentha piperita for acne vulgaris treatment. The EOs were characterized based on antioxidant activity and chemical composition using HPLC and GC/MS analysis. The antimicrobial activity against C. acnes and S. epidermidis was observed by the determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). The MICs were in the range of 5.7–9.4 μL/mL, and MBCs 9.4–25.0 μL/mL. The EOs were integrated into gelatin nanofibers by electrospinning and SEM images of the fibers were taken. Only the addition of 20% of pure essential oil led to minor diameter and morphology alteration. The agar diffusion tests were performed. Pure and diluted Eos in almond oil exhibited a strong antibacterial effect on C. acnes and S. epidermidis. After incorporation into nanofibers, we were able to focus the antimicrobial effect only on the spot of application with no effect on the surrounding microorganisms. Lastly, for cytotoxicity evaluation, and MTT assay was performed with promising results that samples in the tested range had a low impact on HaCaT cell line viability. In conclusion, our gelatin nanofibers containing EOs are suitable for further investigation as prospective antimicrobial patches for acne vulgaris local treatment. Full article
18 pages, 4550 KiB  
Article
Uniaxial and Coaxial Nanofibers PCL/Alginate or PCL/Gelatine Transport and Release Tamoxifen and Curcumin Affecting the Viability of MCF7 Cell Line
by Diego Fernando Suárez, Ana Delia Pinzón-García, Rubén Darío Sinisterra, Anderson Dussan, Fredy Mesa and Sandra Ramírez-Clavijo
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(19), 3348; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12193348 - 26 Sep 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2428
Abstract
Breast cancer is the second cause of cancer death in women worldwide. The search for therapeutic and preventive alternatives has increased in recent years. One synthetic drug for patients with hormone receptor-positive tumours is tamoxifen citrate (TMX). Curcumin (Cur) is a natural compound [...] Read more.
Breast cancer is the second cause of cancer death in women worldwide. The search for therapeutic and preventive alternatives has increased in recent years. One synthetic drug for patients with hormone receptor-positive tumours is tamoxifen citrate (TMX). Curcumin (Cur) is a natural compound that is being tested. Both were coupled with nanoscale-controlled and sustained release systems to increase the effectiveness of the treatment and reduce adverse effects. We produced a controlled release system based on uniaxial and coaxial polymeric nanofibers of polycaprolactone (PCL), alginate (Alg) and gelatine (Gel) for the transport and release of TMX and Cur, as a new alternative to breast cancer treatment. Nanofibers combining PCL–Alg and PCL–Gel were fabricated by the electrospinning technique and physicochemically characterised by thermal analysis, absorption spectroscopy in the infrared region and X-ray diffraction. Morphology and size were studied by scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, the release profile of TMX and Cur was obtained by UV-Vis spectroscopy. Additionally, the cytotoxic effect on breast cancer cell line MCF7 and peripheral-blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from a healthy donor were evaluated by a Resazurin reduction assay. These assays showed that PCL–TMX nanofiber was highly toxic to both cell types, while PCL–Cur was less toxic. Full article
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13 pages, 1710 KiB  
Article
MPTHub: An Open-Source Software for Characterizing the Transport of Particles in Biorelevant Media
by Leandro Gabriel, Helena Almeida, Marta Avelar, Bruno Sarmento and José das Neves
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(11), 1899; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12111899 - 1 Jun 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3147
Abstract
The study of particle transport in different environments plays an essential role in understanding interactions with humans and other living organisms. Importantly, obtained data can be directly used for multiple applications in fields such as fundamental biology, toxicology, or medicine. Particle movement in [...] Read more.
The study of particle transport in different environments plays an essential role in understanding interactions with humans and other living organisms. Importantly, obtained data can be directly used for multiple applications in fields such as fundamental biology, toxicology, or medicine. Particle movement in biorelevant media can be readily monitored using microscopy and converted into time-resolved trajectories using freely available tracking software. However, translation into tangible and meaningful parameters is time consuming and not always intuitive. We developed new software—MPTHub—as an open-access, standalone, user-friendly tool for the rapid and reliable analysis of particle trajectories extracted from video microscopy. The software was programmed using Python and allowed to import and analyze trajectory data, as well as to export relevant data such as individual and ensemble time-averaged mean square displacements and effective diffusivity, and anomalous transport exponent. Data processing was reliable, fast (total processing time of less than 10 s), and required minimal memory resources (up to a maximum of around 150 MB in random access memory). Demonstration of software applicability was conducted by studying the transport of different polystyrene nanoparticles (100–200 nm) in mucus surrogates. Overall, MPTHub represents a freely available software tool that can be used even by inexperienced users for studying the transport of particles in biorelevant media. Full article
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