Recent advances in carrier mediated nose-to-brain delivery of pharmaceutics.

Central nervous system (CNS) disorders (e.g., multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, etc.

Recent developments in nanocarrier-aided mucosal vaccination.

To date, most of the licensed vaccines for mucosal delivery are based on live-attenuated viruses which carry the risk of regaining their pathogenicity. Therefore, the development of efficient nonviral vectors allowing the induction of potent humoral and cell-mediated immunity is regarded as an imperative scientific challenge as well as a commercial breakthrough for the pharma industries. For a successful translation to the clinic, such nanocarriers should protect the antigens from mucosal enzymes, facilitate antigen uptake by microfold cells and allow the copresentation of robust, safe for human use, mucosal adjuvants to antigen-presenting cells.

Polyelectrolyte complexes as prospective carriers for the oral delivery of protein therapeutics.

The oral administration of protein therapeutics is hindered by the multitude of barriers confronted by these molecules along the gastrointestinal tract (i.e., acidic environment, proteolytic degradation, mucosal barrier, etc.

Lipid-based nanocarriers for the oral administration of biopharmaceutics.

Biopharmaceutics have been recognized as the drugs of choice for the treatment of several diseases, mainly due to their high selectivity and potent action. Nonetheless, their oral administration is a rather challenging problem, since their bioavailability is significantly hindered by various physiological barriers along the GI tract, including their acid-induced hydrolysis in the stomach, their enzymatic degradation throughout the GI tract and their poor mucosa permeability. Lipid-based nanocarriers represent a viable means for enhancing the oral bioavailability of biomolecules while diminishing toxicity-related issues.

Effective incorporation of insulin in mucus permeating self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery systems.

The development of a novel, mucus permeating SNEDDS formulation for oral insulin delivery containing a hydrophobic ion pair of insulin/dimyristoyl phosphatidylglycerol (INS/DMPG) is presented. Three oil/surfactant/cosurfactant combinations and 27 weight ratios of oil, surfactant and cosurfactant for each combination were evaluated with the aid of ternary phase diagrams, for the incorporation of the protein/phospholipid complex. The developed formulation was characterized by an average droplet diameter of 30-45 nm.

On the synthesis of mucus permeating nanocarriers.

The synthesis of nanocarriers with "slippery" surface (i.e., poly(lactide-co-glycolide)-polyethylene glycol (PLGA-PEG) nanoparticles (NPs) and polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) of polyacrylic acid (PAA) with poly-L-lysine (PLL) and/or polyarginine (PArg)) and of nanocarriers (i.