Non‐Pore Dependent and MMP‐9 Responsive Gelatin/Silk Fibroin Composite Microparticles as Universal Delivery Platform for Inhaled Treatment of Lung Cancer

Abstract

Developing a drug delivery platform that possesses universal drug loading capacity to meet various requirements of cancer treatment is a challenging yet interesting task. Herein, a self‐assembled gelatin/silk fibroin composite particle (GSC) based drug delivery system is developed via microphase separation followed by desolvation process. Thanks to its pre‐assembled microphase stage, this GSC system is suitable for varying types of drugs. The desolvation process fix drugs inside GSC rapidly and densify the GSC structure, thereby achieving efficient drug loading and providing comprehensive protection for loaded drugs. Actually, the size of this brand‐new non‐pore dependent drug delivery system can be easily adjusted from 100 nm to 20 μm to fit different scenarios. We select GSC with 3 μm diameter as the universal inhaled drug delivery platform, which shows an excellent transmucosal penetration and lung retention ability. Additionally, the MMP‐9 sensitive degradation property of GSC enhances the targeted efficiency of drugs and reduces side effects. Intestinally, GSC can self‐amplify the regulation of innate immunity to reverse the cancerous microenvironment into an anti‐tumor niche, significantly improving the therapeutic effect of drugs. Our study of GSC universal drug platform provides a new direction to develop the next‐generation of drug delivery system for lung cancer.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

A novel therapeutic outlook: Classification, applications and challenges of inhalable micron/nanoparticle drug delivery systems in lung cancer (Review)

“…Gelatin has been employed as a carrier in several inhalation-based delivery systems. Gou et al ( 76 ) developed a self-assembled inhalable gelatin/silk fibroin protein composite (GSC) DDS. This system used phase separation and desolvation processes to rapidly encapsulate various drugs within the GSC structure.…”

Silk fibroin-based flexible pressure sensors: processing and application

“…At present, inorganic salt mixed solvents are most commonly used to dissolve SF, which denote the use of highconcentration salt solutions to destroy the SF structure, such as high-concentration LiBr aqueous solution [88,89], ZnCl 2 aqueous solution [90] and CaCl 2 /water/ethanol solution [91]. However, on the one hand, the high concentration of salt will make the solvent system more expensive; and on the other hand, the residual salt ions in the SF solution will also destroy the structure of the SF [92].…”