Lipid Nanoparticles With Fine-Tuned Composition Show Enhanced Colon Targeting as a Platform for mRNA Therapeutics.

Lipid Nanoparticles (LNPs) recently emerged as an invaluable RNA delivery platform. With many LNP-based therapeutics in the pre-clinical and clinical pipelines, there is extensive research dedicated to improving LNPs. These efforts focus mainly on the tolerability and transfectability of new ionizable lipids and RNAs, or modulating LNPs biodistribution with active targeting strategies.

Design of experiments in the optimization of nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems.

Design of experiment (DoE) is a powerful statistical technique used for variable screening and optimization. It is based on the simultaneous variation of multiple factors with the objective of finding the configuration of parameters that optimizes one or more outputs of interest, while using the minimal number of experimental runs required for testing, resulting very cost and time-efficient. Despite the high potential offered by this approach for innovation and process optimization, DoE is still only marginally applied in the field of nanomedicine and often its rationale application and analysis result is difficult to grasp by many.

A Combinatorial Library of Lipid Nanoparticles for Cell Type-Specific mRNA Delivery.

Ionizable lipid-based nanoparticles (LNPs) are the most advanced non-viral drug delivery systems for RNA therapeutics and vaccines. However, cell type-specific, extrahepatic mRNA delivery is still a major hurdle, hampering the development of novel therapeutic modalities. Herein, a novel ionizable lipid library is synthesized by modifying hydrophobic tail chains and linkers.

Optimization of a detergent-based protocol for membrane proteins purification from mammalian cells.

Membrane proteins constitute around 20-30 % of the proteins encoded by mammalian genes, are involved in many cell functions, and represent the majority of drug targets. However, the isolation of membrane proteins is challenging because of their partial hydrophobicity, requiring detergents to extract them from cell membranes and stabilize them in solution. Many commercial kits use this principle, but they are expensive, and their chemical composition is not known.

Optimization of Biomimetic, Leukocyte-Mimicking Nanovesicles for Drug Delivery Against Colorectal Cancer Using a Design of Experiment Approach.

The development of biomimetic nanoparticles (NPs) has revolutionized the concept of nanomedicine by offering a completely new set of biocompatible materials to formulate innovative drug delivery systems capable of imitating the behavior of cells. Specifically, the use of leukocyte-derived membrane proteins to functionalize nanovesicles (leukosomes) can enable their long circulation and target the inflamed endothelium present in many inflammatory pathologies and tumors, making them a promising and versatile drug delivery system. However, these studies did not elucidate the critical experimental parameters involved in leukosomes formulation.

Latest Advances in Biomimetic Cell Membrane-Coated and Membrane-Derived Nanovectors for Biomedical Applications.

In the last decades, many nanovectors were developed for different diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. However, most nanosystems have been designed using a "bottom-up" approach, in which the basic components of the nanovector become assembled to achieve complex and specific behaviors. Despite the fine control of formulative conditions, the complexity of these systems often results cumbersome and difficult to scale-up.

Recent Advances in Understanding the Protein Corona of Nanoparticles and in the Formulation of "Stealthy" Nanomaterials.

In the last decades, the staggering progress in nanotechnology brought around a wide and heterogeneous range of nanoparticle-based platforms for the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases. Most of these systems are designed to be administered intravenously. This administration route allows the nanoparticles (NPs) to widely distribute in the body and reach deep organs without invasive techniques.

Nanovectors Design for Theranostic Applications in Colorectal Cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a diffused disease with limited therapeutic options, none of which are often curative. Based on the molecular markers and targets expressed by the affected tissues, numerous novel approaches have been developed to study and treat this disease. In particular, the field of nanotechnology offers an astonishingly wide array of innovative nanovectors with high versatility and adaptability for both diagnosis and therapy (the so called "theranostic platforms").