A clinical review of HIV integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) for the prevention and treatment of HIV-1 infection.

Integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) have improved the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). There are currently four approved for use in treatment-naïve individuals living with HIV; these include first generation raltegravir, elvitegravir, and second generation dolutegravir and bictegravir. The most recent INSTI, cabotegravir, is approved for (1) treatment of HIV infection in adults to replace current antiretroviral therapy in individuals who maintain virologic suppression on a stable antiretroviral regimen without history of treatment failure and no known resistance to its components and (2) pre-exposure prophylaxis in individuals at risk of acquiring HIV-1 infection.

One-step fabrication of size-controllable nicotine containing core-shell structures.

We report a one-step synthesis of nicotine-containing nanoparticles by using a size-controllable nanofiltration technique. Nanostructures with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) were prepared as a biocompatible well-type polymeric carrier containing a hydrophobic and highly viscous nicotine drug through a novel spontaneous emulsification solvent diffusion method. This approach could be used for efficient dispersion of nicotine in biological systems.

Magnetoelectric nanoparticles for delivery of antitumor peptides into glioblastoma cells by magnetic fields.

Aim: We studied externally controlled anticancer effects of binding tumor growth inhibiting synthetic peptides to magnetoelectric nanoparticles (MENs) on treatment of glioblastomas.

Methods: Hydrothermally synthesized 30-nm MENs had the core-shell composition of CoFeO@BaTiO. Molecules of growth hormone-releasing hormone antagonist of the MIA class (MIA690) were chemically bound to MENs.

Erratum: Multiferroic coreshell magnetoelectric nanoparticles as NMR sensitive nanoprobes for cancer cell detection.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML version of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.

Biodistribution and clearance of magnetoelectric nanoparticles for nanomedical applications using energy dispersive spectroscopy.

Aim: The biodistribution and clearance of magnetoelectric nanoparticles (MENs) in a mouse model was studied through electron energy dispersive spectroscopy.

Materials & Methods: This approach allows for detection of nanoparticles (NPs) in tissues with the spatial resolution of scanning electron microscopy, does not require any tissue-sensitive staining and is not limited to MENs.

Results: The size-dependent biodistribution of intravenously administrated MENs was measured in vital organs such as the kidneys, liver, spleen, lungs and brain at four different postinjection times including 1 day, 1 week, 4 and 8 weeks, respectively.

Multiferroic coreshell magnetoelectric nanoparticles as NMR sensitive nanoprobes for cancer cell detection.

Magnetoelectric (ME) nanoparticles (MENs) intrinsically couple magnetic and electric fields. Using them as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) sensitive nanoprobes adds another dimension for NMR detection of biological cells based on the cell type and corresponding particle association with the cell. Based on ME property, for the first time we show that MENs can distinguish different cancer cells among themselves as well as from their normal counterparts.

Evaluating the role of atazanavir/cobicistat and darunavir/cobicistat fixed-dose combinations for the treatment of HIV-1 infection.

Atazanavir/cobicistat (ATV/c) and darunavir/cobicistat (DRV/c) are newly approved once daily fixed-dose protease inhibitor combinations for the treatment of HIV-1 infection. Studies in healthy volunteers have established bioequivalence between cobicistat and ritonavir as pharmacoenhancers of both atazanavir (ATV) and darunavir (DRV). In addition, two randomized clinical trials (one Phase II and one Phase III noninferiority trial with a 144-week followup period) demonstrated that cobicistat had sustainable and comparable efficacy and safety to ritonavir as a pharmacoenhancer of ATV through 144 weeks of treatment in HIV-1-infected patients.

Targeted and controlled anticancer drug delivery and release with magnetoelectric nanoparticles.

It is a challenge to eradicate tumor cells while sparing normal cells. We used magnetoelectric nanoparticles (MENs) to control drug delivery and release. The physics is due to electric-field interactions (i) between MENs and a drug and (ii) between drug-loaded MENs and cells.

Magnetoelectric 'spin' on stimulating the brain.

Aim: The in vivo study on imprinting control region mice aims to show that magnetoelectric nanoparticles may directly couple the intrinsic neural activity-induced electric fields with external magnetic fields.

Methods: Approximately 10 µg of CoFe2O4-BaTiO3 30-nm nanoparticles have been intravenously administrated through a tail vein and forced to cross the blood-brain barrier via a d.c.

Magneto-electric nanoparticles to enable field-controlled high-specificity drug delivery to eradicate ovarian cancer cells.

The nanotechnology capable of high-specificity targeted delivery of anti-neoplastic drugs would be a significant breakthrough in Cancer in general and Ovarian Cancer in particular. We addressed this challenge through a new physical concept that exploited (i) the difference in the membrane electric properties between the tumor and healthy cells and (ii) the capability of magneto-electric nanoparticles (MENs) to serve as nanosized converters of remote magnetic field energy into the MENs' intrinsic electric field energy. This capability allows to remotely control the membrane electric fields and consequently trigger high-specificity drug uptake through creation of localized nano-electroporation sites.

Externally controlled on-demand release of anti-HIV drug using magneto-electric nanoparticles as carriers.

Although highly active anti-retroviral therapy has resulted in remarkable decline in the morbidity and mortality in AIDS patients, inadequately low delivery of anti-retroviral drugs across the blood-brain barrier results in virus persistence. The capability of high-efficacy-targeted drug delivery and on-demand release remains a formidable task. Here we report an in vitro study to demonstrate the on-demand release of azidothymidine 5'-triphosphate, an anti-human immunodeficiency virus drug, from 30 nm CoFe2O4@BaTiO3 magneto-electric nanoparticles by applying a low alternating current magnetic field.

Magneto-electric nano-particles for non-invasive brain stimulation.

This paper for the first time discusses a computational study of using magneto-electric (ME) nanoparticles to artificially stimulate the neural activity deep in the brain. The new technology provides a unique way to couple electric signals in the neural network to the magnetic dipoles in the nanoparticles with the purpose to enable a non-invasive approach. Simulations of the effect of ME nanoparticles for non-invasively stimulating the brain of a patient with Parkinson's Disease to bring the pulsed sequences of the electric field to the levels comparable to those of healthy people show that the optimized values for the concentration of the 20-nm nanoparticles (with the magneto-electric (ME) coefficient of 100 V cm(-1) Oe(-1) in the aqueous solution) is 3 × 10(6) particles/cc, and the frequency of the externally applied 300-Oe magnetic field is 80 Hz.