Effect of Different Karyophilic Peptides on Physical Characteristics and In Vitro Transfection Efficiency of Chitosan-Plasmid Nanoparticles as Nonviral Gene Delivery Systems.

A strategy to increase the transfection efficiency of chitosan-based nanoparticles for gene therapy is by adding nuclear localization signals through karyophilic peptides. Here, the effect of the length and sequence of these peptides and their interaction with different plasmids on the physical characteristics and biological functionality of nanoparticles is reported. The karyophilic peptides (P1 or P2) were used to assemble nanoparticles by complex coacervation with pEGFP-N1, pQBI25 or pSelect-Zeo-HSV1-tk plasmids, and chitosan.

Anti-Diabetic Activity of Glycyrrhetinic Acid Derivatives FC-114 and FC-122: Scale-Up, In Silico, In Vitro, and In Vivo Studies.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is one of the most common diseases and the 8th leading cause of death worldwide. Individuals with T2D are at risk for several health complications that reduce their life expectancy and quality of life. Although several drugs for treating T2D are currently available, many of them have reported side effects ranging from mild to severe.

Development of a Parenteral Formulation of NTS-Polyplex Nanoparticles for Clinical Purpose.

Neurotensin (NTS)-polyplex is a nanoparticle system for targeted gene delivery that holds great promise for treatment of Parkinson's disease and various types of cancer. However, the high instability in aqueous suspension of NTS-polyplex nanoparticles is a major limitation for their widespread clinical use. To overcome this obstacle, we developed a clinical formulation and a lyophilization process for NTS-polyplex nanoparticles.