by Keyword: Drug targeting
Ghanavati, Sonya, Opar, Ekin, Gobbo, Virginia Alessandra, Matera, Carlo, Riefolo, Fabio, Castagna, Rossella, Colombelli, Julien, Draganski, Andrew, Baggott, J, Lastusaari, Mika, Gorostiza, Pau, Petit, Laeticia, Massera, Jonathan, (2025). Novel 3D-Printed Biophotonic Scaffold Displaying Luminescence under Near-Infrared Light for Photopharmacological Activation and Biological Signaling Compound Release Advanced Healthcare Materials , e02163 
Despite significant efforts in developing novel biomaterials to regenerate tissue, only a few of them have successfully reached clinical use. It has become clear that the next generation of biomaterials must be multifunctional. Smart biomaterials can respond to environmental or external stimuli, interact in a spatial-temporal manner, and trigger specific tissue/organism responses. In this study, the fabrication of novel 3D-printed and bioresorbable scaffolds, with embedded crystals that can convert near-infrared (NIR) light into visible light, is presented. It is demonstrated that these biophotonic scaffolds are not only bioactive and bioresorbable, but can also be promising as a platform for the controlled release or activation of photoactivated drugs locally and on demand, under illumination. The scaffolds are analyzed based on their up-conversion spectroscopic properties and their chemical stability in simulated body fluid. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the up-conversion properties of the scaffolds are sufficient to release the signaling molecule nitric oxide (NO) and to photoisomerize the muscarinic ligand Phthalimide-Azo-Iperoxo (PAI), in a controlled manner, upon NIR light stimulus. Finally, to assess their biocompatibility for potential implantation, a preliminary study is conducted with human adipose stem cells cultured in contact with scaffolds. Live/dead assays, morphological analysis, CyQUANT analysis, and ion release measurements confirm that, despite some release of the upconverter crystals, the biophotonic materia and its dissolution by-products, are biocompatible. These findings highlight the potential of these bioresorbable biophotonic scaffolds for localized drug release in response to NIR light stimuli.
JTD Keywords: 45s, 45s5, Bioactive glass scaffolds, Borate, Bulk, Drug targeting, Implants, Luminescence, Nitric oxide, Optopharmacology, Photopharmacology, Phototherapeutic window, Silicate, System, Upconversio, Upconversion
Marques, J., Moles, E., Urbán, P., Prohens, R., Busquets, M. A., Sevrin, C., Grandfils, C., Fernàndez-Busquets, X., (2014). Application of heparin as a dual agent with antimalarial and liposome targeting activities toward Plasmodium-infected red blood cells Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine 10, (8), 1719-1728
Heparin had been demonstrated to have antimalarial activity and specific binding affinity for Plasmodium-infected red blood cells (pRBCs) vs. non-infected erythrocytes. Here we have explored if both properties could be joined into a drug delivery strategy where heparin would have a dual role as antimalarial and as a targeting element of drug-loaded nanoparticles. Confocal fluorescence and transmission electron microscopy data show that after 30. min of being added to living pRBCs fluorescein-labeled heparin colocalizes with the intracellular parasites. Heparin electrostatically adsorbed onto positively charged liposomes containing the cationic lipid 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane and loaded with the antimalarial drug primaquine was capable of increasing three-fold the activity of encapsulated drug in Plasmodium falciparum cultures. At concentrations below those inducing anticoagulation of mouse blood in vivo, parasiticidal activity was found to be the additive result of the separate activities of free heparin as antimalarial and of liposome-bound heparin as targeting element for encapsulated primaquine. From the Clinical Editor: Malaria remains an enormous global public health concern. In this study, a novel functionalized heparin formulation used as drug delivery agent for primaquine was demonstrated to result in threefold increased drug activity in cell cultures, and in a murine model it was able to provide these benefits in concentrations below what would be required for anticoagulation. Further studies are needed determine if this approach is applicable in the human disease as well.
JTD Keywords: Heparin, Liposomes, Malaria, Plasmodium, Targeted drug delivery, Heparin, Malaria, Plasmodium, Red blood cell, Targeted drug delivery, Liposomes, 1,2 dioleoyl 3 trimethylammoniopropane, fluorescein, heparin, liposome, nanoparticle, primaquine, adsorption, animal experiment, anticoagulation, antimalarial activity, Article, binding affinity, confocal microscopy, controlled study, drug targeting, encapsulation, erythrocyte, female, fluorescence microscopy, human, human cell, in vivo study, liposomal delivery, mouse, nonhuman, Plasmodium falciparum, transmission electron microscopy
