Current Issue : July-September Volume : 2025 Issue Number : 3 Articles : 5 Articles
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the neurodegenerative disorders, characterized by complex pathogenic mechanisms, including the deposition of beta-amyloid protein and hyperphosphorylation of Tau protein. There is currently a lack of effective therapeutic approaches for AD treatment. The aim of this study was to design exosomes (EXO) as a specifically designed carrier able to carry Curcumin (Cur) and Methylene Blue (MB) to improve cognitive function and to elucidate its underlying mechanisms. Our study results indicated that EXO-Cur+MB inhibited Tau protein phosphorylation by activating the AKT/GSK-3β pathway, while reversing cognitive dysfunction in AD mice by reducing apoptosis induced by okadaic acid (OA). Thus, our results suggested that EXO-Cur+MB would be of potential use for the treatment of AD....
Glioblastoma, a grade IV astrocytoma, typically has a poor prognosis, with most patients succumbing within eighteen months of diagnosis and few experiencing long-term survival. Focused ultrasound, an emerging localized therapy, has shown promising results in early-phase studies for glioblastoma by improving the uptake of temozolomide and carboplatin. The blood-brain barrier is critical to homeostasis by regulating the movement of substances between the bloodstream and the central nervous system. While this barrier helps prevent infections from bloodborne pathogens, it also hinders the delivery of cancer therapies to gliomas. Combining focused ultrasound with circulating microbubbles enhances local blood-brain barrier permeability, facilitating the intratumoral uptake of systemic cancer therapies. The purpose of this study was to identify promising new therapeutics in the treatment of glioblastoma for localized drug delivery via focused ultrasound. This review provides an overview of the current standard of care for newly diagnosed and recurrent glioblastoma, identifies current therapies indicated for the treatment, discusses key aspects of microbubble resonators, describes focused ultrasound devices under evaluation in human trials, and concludes with a perspective of emerging therapeutics for future studies....
Background/Objectives: The combination of nanomedicine with nasal administration is of paramount importance in current research and development. Polymeric micelles coated with hyaluronic acid may be a suitable solution to enhance drug release and permeation whilst properly adhering to the nasal mucosa, increasing residence time. Methods: Solid state characterization included morphology and laser diffraction-based size analysis and X-ray powder diffraction. The characterization of dispersed polymeric micelles in aqueous media was performed based on dynamic light scaering and determining the solubility enhancement related factors such as encapsulation efficiency and thermodynamic solubility. In vitro nasal drug release and permeability studies were also conducted to characterize the different hyaluronic acidmodified polymeric micelles. Quantitative measurements were carried out via liquid chromatography. Results: Concentration dependence on hyaluronic acid was found during all measurements, with one formulation candidate overcoming the others. With a high yield above 80%, monodispersed particles were formulated with an approximately 4 μm particle size in uniform distribution and spherical morphology. The small micelle size (107.3 nm) in uniform manner led to a high encapsulation efficiency above 80% and released the drug amount above 70% in 15 min. High drug permeation was also achieved compared with the initial active substance by itself. Conclusions: A value-added polymeric micelle formulation was developed with rapid drug release and permeation kinetics alongside its high mucoadhesion....
Lidocaine plays a significant role in postoperative analgesia by effectively reducing pain. However, due to its short half-life, it is challenging for lidocaine to achieve the desired duration of analgesia in clinical settings. Drug delivery systems can regulate the release rate over time, making them one of the most effective strategies for achieving sustained release. In this work, a multi-level drug delivery system was designed using hyaluronic acid-modified zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (HA/ZIF-8) nanoparticles and injectable hydrogels composed of modified natural polymers. Lidocaine was incorporating into the modified ZIF-8 and uniformly dispersed within the hydrogel network. The dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) results indicate the successful loading of lidocaine into ZIF-8, while the X-ray diffractometer (XRD) results confirm that the loading of lidocaine did not disrupt the crystal structure of ZIF-8. The coating of hyaluronic acid on ZIF-8 enhanced cell biocompatibility, with cell viability increasing by 89% at the same concentration. This multi-level drug delivery system can be injected through a 27-guage needle. In vitro release studies demonstrated a sustained release of lidocaine for more than 4 days and kinetic simulations aligned with the Bshakar model, indicating its potential for use in long-acting analgesic preparations....
Protein–polymer bioconjugates offer numerous advantages in biomedical applications by integrating the benefits of functional proteins and tunable synthetic polymers. Developing drug-loaded protein–polymer nanoparticles, with a receptor-targeting protein forming the nanoparticle shell, would be ideal for the targeted delivery of drugs to cancer cells that overexpress specific receptors for more effective cancer therapy. In this study, we report the synthesis of reduction-responsive protein–polymer nanoparticles by a photoinitiated polymerization-induced self-assembly (photo-PISA) approach. Anti-cancer drugs can be efficiently encapsulated at high concentrations within the nanoparticles during the photo-PISA process. These protein–polymer nanoparticles present transferrin (Tf) on their surfaces, capable of targeting the overexpressed Tf receptors found on cancer cells. It was found that the nanoparticles demonstrate enhanced cellular uptake and delivery of the anti-cancer drug, curcumin, to cancer cells via Tf receptor-mediated endocytosis, compared to the control PEGylated nanoparticles that lack targeting capability. Moreover, the nanoparticles can release the encapsulated curcumin in response to a reducing environment, a characteristic of cancer cells compared to health cells. Consequently, the synthesized protein–polymer nanoparticles are more effective in inducing cancer cell death compared to the control nanoparticles, demonstrating their potential as an effective and targeted drug delivery system for cancer therapy....
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