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Pharmaceutics
Special Issues
Functional Polymers for Drug and Gene Delivery
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Functional Polymers for Drug and Gene Delivery

A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923). This special issue belongs to the section "Drug Delivery and Controlled Release".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 September 2024 | Viewed by 5523

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ruvanthi N. Kularatne

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Guest Editor
Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
Interests: nano-formulation; polymer chemistry; organic chemistry
Prof. Dr. Mihaela C. Stefan

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Guest Editor
The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, USA
Interests: organic and polymer chemistry; drug delivery; catalysis
Dr. Dineli Ranathunga

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA 02451, USA
Interests: formulation; drug delivery; bioinformatics; pharmaceutical; computational chemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Delivering a payload to a specific set of coordinates requires a thorough understanding of the delivery location as well as obstacles/barriers, in addition to a reliable method of transportation. While it is straightforward in a deconvoluted domain, targeting condensed biological tissue or a subpopulation of cells is far more challenging. This grand task has been an active area of biomedical research both in academic and industrial settings for decades. For therapeutics, the direct delivery of active pharmaceutical ingredients often fails to sustain steady-state kinetics, requiring multiple doses. Such sinusoidal drug dosage may lead to unintended side effects. This can be mitigated by formulating cargo with an epitaxial organic carrier such as a polymer to facilitate the slow release of the drug over an extended period of time. Since polymers can be chemically functionalized, many parameters (e.g., encapsulation efficiency, sustained release profile, and tissue targeting) can be fine-tuned to deliver drugs or genes.

In this Special Issue we aim to highlight recent advances in drug and gene delivery using functional polymers. We welcome researchers to contribute original research and review articles highlighting the latest functional polymer platforms for drug/gene delivery.

Dr. Ruvanthi N. Kularatne
Prof. Dr. Mihaela C. Stefan
Dr. Dineli Ranathunga
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmaceutics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • polymer drug delivery
  • polymer gene delivery
  • micelles
  • lipid nanoparticles
  • polyplexes
  • dendrimers
  • polymer conjugates

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 8021 KiB  
Article
Block Copolymer Micelles Encapsulating Au(III) Bis(Dithiolene) Complexes as Promising Nanostructures with Antiplasmodial Activity
by Joana F. Santos, Raquel Azevedo, Miguel Prudêncio, Fernanda Marques, Yann Le Gal, Dominique Lorcy and Célia Fernandes
Pharmaceutics 2023, 15(3), 1030; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15031030 - 22 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1438
Abstract
Block copolymer micelles (BCMs) can be used to improve the solubility of lipophilic drugs and increase their circulation half-life. Hence, BCMs assembled from MePEG-b-PCL were evaluated as drug delivery systems of gold(III) bis(dithiolene) complexes (herein AuS and AuSe) to be employed [...] Read more.
Block copolymer micelles (BCMs) can be used to improve the solubility of lipophilic drugs and increase their circulation half-life. Hence, BCMs assembled from MePEG-b-PCL were evaluated as drug delivery systems of gold(III) bis(dithiolene) complexes (herein AuS and AuSe) to be employed as antiplasmodial drugs. These complexes exhibited remarkable antiplasmodial activity against liver stages of the Plasmodium berghei parasite, and low toxicity in a model of zebrafish embryos. To improve the complexes’ solubility, BCMs were loaded with AuS, AuSe, and the reference drug primaquine (PQ). PQ-BCMs (Dh = 50.9 ± 2.8 nm), AuSe-BCMs (Dh = 87.1 ± 9.7 nm), and AuS-BCMs (Dh = 72.8 ± 3.1 nm) were obtained with a loading efficiency of 82.5%, 55.5%, and 77.4%, respectively. HPLC analysis and UV–Vis spectrophotometry showed that the compounds did not suffer degradation after encapsulation in BCMs. In vitro release studies suggest that AuS/AuSe-BCMs present a more controlled release compared with PQ-loaded BCMs. The antiplasmodial hepatic activity of the drugs was assessed in vitro and results indicate that both complexes present higher inhibitory activity than PQ, although encapsulated AuS and AuSe presented lower activity than their non-encapsulated counterparts. Nevertheless, these results suggest that the use of BCMs as delivery vehicles for lipophilic metallodrugs, particularly AuS and AuSe, could enable the controlled release of complexes and improve their biocompatibility, constituting a promising alternative to conventional antimalarial treatments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Polymers for Drug and Gene Delivery)
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Review

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19 pages, 1649 KiB  
Review
Burst Release from In Situ Forming PLGA-Based Implants: 12 Effectors and Ways of Correction
by Elena O. Bakhrushina, Polina S. Sakharova, Polina D. Konogorova, Victor S. Pyzhov, Svetlana I. Kosenkova, Alexander I. Bardakov, Irina M. Zubareva, Ivan I. Krasnyuk and Ivan I. Krasnyuk, Jr.
Pharmaceutics 2024, 16(1), 115; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics16010115 - 16 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1045
Abstract
In modern pharmaceutical technology, modified-release dosage forms, such as in situ formed implants, are gaining rapidly in popularity. These dosage forms are created based on a configurable matrix consisting of phase-sensitive polymers capable of biodegradation, a hydrophilic solvent, and the active substance suspended [...] Read more.
In modern pharmaceutical technology, modified-release dosage forms, such as in situ formed implants, are gaining rapidly in popularity. These dosage forms are created based on a configurable matrix consisting of phase-sensitive polymers capable of biodegradation, a hydrophilic solvent, and the active substance suspended or dissolved in it. The most used phase-sensitive implants are based on a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer, poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA). Objective: This systematic review examines the reasons for the phenomenon of active ingredient “burst” release, which is a major drawback of PLGA-based in situ formed implants, and the likely ways to correct this phenomenon to improve the quality of in situ formed implants with a poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) matrix. Data sources: Actual and relevant publications in PubMed and Google Scholar databases were studied. Study selection: The concept of the review was based on the theory developed during literature analysis of 12 effectors on burst release from in situ forming implants based on PLGA. Only those studies that sufficiently fully disclosed one or another component of the theory were included. Results: The analysis resulted in development of a systematic approach called the “12 Factor System”, which considers various constant and variable, endogenous and exogenous factors that can influence the nature of ‘burst release’ of active ingredients from PLGA polymer-based in situ formed implants. These factors include matrix porosity, polymer swelling, LA:GA ratio, PLGA end groups, polymer molecular weight, active ingredient structure, polymer concentration, polymer loading with active ingredients, polymer combination, use of co-solvents, addition of excipients, and change of dissolution conditions. This review also considered different types of kinetics of active ingredient release from in situ formed implants and the possibility of using the “burst release” phenomenon to modify the active ingredient release profile at the site of application of this dosage form. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Polymers for Drug and Gene Delivery)
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26 pages, 5810 KiB  
Review
Recent Advances in Polycaprolactones for Anticancer Drug Delivery
by Abhi Bhadran, Tejas Shah, Godwin K. Babanyinah, Himanshu Polara, Somayeh Taslimy, Michael C. Biewer and Mihaela C. Stefan
Pharmaceutics 2023, 15(7), 1977; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15071977 - 19 Jul 2023
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2131
Abstract
Poly(ε-Caprolactone)s are biodegradable and biocompatible polyesters that have gained considerable attention for drug delivery applications due to their slow degradation and ease of functionalization. One of the significant advantages of polycaprolactone is its ability to attach various functionalities to its backbone, which is [...] Read more.
Poly(ε-Caprolactone)s are biodegradable and biocompatible polyesters that have gained considerable attention for drug delivery applications due to their slow degradation and ease of functionalization. One of the significant advantages of polycaprolactone is its ability to attach various functionalities to its backbone, which is commonly accomplished through ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of functionalized caprolactone monomer. In this review, we aim to summarize some of the most recent advances in polycaprolactones and their potential application in drug delivery. We will discuss different types of polycaprolactone-based drug delivery systems and their behavior in response to different stimuli, their ability to target specific locations, morphology, as well as their drug loading and release capabilities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Polymers for Drug and Gene Delivery)
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