Hydrogel-Encapsulated Biofilm Inhibitors Abrogate the Cariogenic Activity of .

We designed and synthesized analogues of a previously identified biofilm inhibitor to improve solubility, retain inhibitory activities, and to facilitate encapsulation into pH-responsive hydrogel microparticles. The optimized lead compound showed improved solubility of 120.09 μg/mL, inhibited biofilm with an IC value of 6.

Direct Radiolabeling of Trastuzumab-Targeting Triblock Copolymer Vesicles with Zr for Positron Emission Tomography Imaging.

Radiolabeled drug nanocarriers that can be easily imaged positron emission tomography (PET) are highly significant as their outcome can be quantitatively PET-traced with high sensitivity. However, typical radiolabeling of most PET-guided theranostic vehicles utilizes modification with chelator ligands, which presents various challenges. In addition, unlike passive tumor targeting, specific targeting of drug delivery vehicles binding affinity to overexpressed cancer cell receptors is crucial to improve the theranostic delivery to tumors.

Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional Ultrathin Multilayer Hydrogels through Layer-by-Layer Assembly.

Stimuli-responsive multilayer hydrogels have opened new opportunities to design hierarchically organized networks with properties controlled at the nanoscale. These multilayer materials integrate structural, morphological, and compositional versatility provided by alternating layer-by-layer polymer deposition with the capability for dramatic and reversible changes in volumes upon environmental triggers, a characteristic of chemically cross-linked responsive networks. Despite their intriguing potential, there has been limited knowledge about the structure-property relationships of multilayer hydrogels, partly because of the challenges in regulating network structural organization and the limited set of the instrumental pool to resolve structure and properties at nanometer spatial resolution.

Poly(-vinylpyrrolidone)--Poly(dimethylsiloxane)--Poly(-vinylpyrrolidone) Triblock Copolymer Polymersomes for Delivery of PARP1 siRNA to Breast Cancers.

Nearly 20% of HER2-positive breast cancers develop resistance to HER2-targeted therapies requiring the use of advanced therapies. Silencing RNA therapy may be a powerful modality for treating resistant HER2 cancers due to its high specificity and low toxicity. However, the systemic administration of siRNAs requires a safe and efficient delivery platform because of siRNA's low stability in physiological fluids, inefficient cellular uptake, immunoreactivity, and rapid clearance.

Multilayer Microcapsules with Shell-Chelated Zr for PET Imaging and Controlled Delivery.

Radionuclide-functionalized drug delivery vehicles capable of being imaged positron emission tomography (PET) are of increasing interest in the biomedical field as they can reveal the behavior of encapsulated therapeutics with high sensitivity. However, the majority of current PET-guided theranostic agents suffer from poor retention of radiometal over time, low drug loading capacities, and time-limited PET imaging capability. To overcome these challenges, we have developed hollow microcapsules with a thin (<100 nm) multilayer shell as advanced theranostic delivery systems for multiday PET tracking .

Shape Recovery of Spherical Hydrogen-Bonded Multilayer Capsules after Osmotically Induced Deformation.

The mechanical properties of microparticles intended for in vivo applications as drug delivery vehicles are among important parameters that influence their circulation in the blood and govern particle biodistribution. We report on the synthesis of soft but mechanically robust spherical capsules via a hydrogen-bonded multilayer assembly of (poly(-vinylpyrrolidone), = 10 000 g mol) with (poly(methacrylic acid) = 100 000 g mol)) (PVPON/PMAA) in methanol using 4 μm nonporous silica microparticles as sacrificial templates, where = 5 and 10 and represents the bilayer number. The mechanical properties of (PVPON/PMAA) spherical capsules were assessed using the osmotic pressure difference method and resulted in an elasticity modulus of 97 ± 8 MPa, which is in the range of Young's modulus for elastomeric networks.