A lipid-based delivery platform for thermo-responsive delivery of teriparatide.

Teriparatide (and analogue peptides) are the only FDA approved anabolic treatments for osteoporosis. Current therapies are administered as a daily subcutaneous injection, which limits patient adherence and clinical efficacy. To achieve the desired anabolic effect, a controlled delivery system must ensure a pulsatile release profile over a prolonged period.

The influence of amphiphilic quaternary ammonium palmitoyl glycol chitosan (GCPQ) polymer composition on oil-loaded nanocapsule architecture.

Hypothesis: Predicting the exact nature of the self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules into supramolecular structures is of utmost importance for a variety of applications, but this is a challenge for nanotechnology. The amphiphilic drug delivery polymer-N-palmitoyl-N-monomethyl-N,N-dimethyl-N,N,N-trimethyl-6-O-glycolchitosan (GCPQ) self-assembles in aqueous media to form nanoparticles.

Experiment: This work aimed to develop a systematic predictive mathematical model on the eventual nature of oil-loaded GCPQ-nanoparticles and to determine the main independent variables that affect their nanoarchitecture following self-assembly.

Quaternary Ammonium Palmitoyl Glycol Chitosan (GCPQ) Loaded with Platinum-Based Anticancer Agents-A Novel Polymer Formulation for Anticancer Therapy.

Quaternary ammonium palmitoyl glycol chitosan (GCPQ) has already shown beneficial drug delivery properties and has been studied as a carrier for anticancer agents. Consequently, we synthesised cytotoxic platinum(IV) conjugates of cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin by coupling via amide bonds to five GCPQ polymers differing in their degree of palmitoylation and quaternisation. The conjugates were characterised by H and Pt NMR spectroscopy as well as inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), the latter to determine the amount of platinum(IV) units per GCPQ polymer.

Ultrasmall-in-Nano: Why Size Matters.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are continuing to gain popularity in the field of nanotechnology. New methods are continuously being developed to tune the particles' physicochemical properties, resulting in control over their biological fate and applicability to in vivo diagnostics and therapy. This review focuses on the effects of varying particle size on optical properties, opsonization, cellular internalization, renal clearance, biodistribution, tumor accumulation, and toxicity.

Particulate levodopa nose-to-brain delivery targets dopamine to the brain with no plasma exposure.

Levodopa (L-DOPA) is an oral Parkinson's Disease drug that generates the active metabolite - dopamine (DA) in vivo. However, oral L-DOPA exhibits low oral bioavailability, limited brain uptake, peripheral DA-mediated side effects and its poor brain bioavailability can lead to long-term complications. Here we show that L-DOPA forms stable (for at least 5 months) 300 nm nanoparticles when encapsulated within N-palmitoyl-N-monomethyl-N,N-dimethyl-N,N,N-trimethyl-6-O-glycolchitosan (GCPQ).

Development of Bio-Functionalized, Raman Responsive, and Potentially Excretable Gold Nanoclusters.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are used experimentally for non-invasive in vivo Raman monitoring because they show a strong absorbance in the phototherapeutic window (650-850 nm), a feature that is accompanied by a particle size in excess of 100 nm. However, these AuNPs cannot be used clinically because they are likely to persist in mammalian systems and resist excretion. In this work, clustered ultrasmall (sub-5 nm) AuNP constructs for in vivo Raman diagnostic monitoring, which are also suitable for mammalian excretion, were synthesized and characterized.