Polymer Capsules for Plaque‐Targeted In Vivo Delivery

Abstract

Targeted polymer capsules can selectively bind to unstable plaques in mice after intravenous injection. Different formulations of the capsules are explored with a synthetic/biopolymer hybrid capsule showing the best stability and small-molecule drug retention. The synthetic polymer is composed of pH-sensitive blocks (PDPA), low-binding blocks (PEG), and click-groups for postfunctionalization with targeting peptides specific to plaques.

Biomolecule–polymer hybrid compartments: combining the best of both worlds

“…106 Finally, a nano-sized LbL capsule functionalized with a peptide was used to target atherosclerotic plaques in vivo. 107 However, these nanocompartments degraded in human plasma, and their stabilization via deposition of poly-histidine on the core particle before deposition of the polymers did not totally prevent this phenomenon. 107 One of the main differences between these nanocompartments and polymersomes resides in the organization of their shell/capsule, which resemble less to biological membranes.…”

“…107 However, these nanocompartments degraded in human plasma, and their stabilization via deposition of poly-histidine on the core particle before deposition of the polymers did not totally prevent this phenomenon. 107 One of the main differences between these nanocompartments and polymersomes resides in the organization of their shell/capsule, which resemble less to biological membranes. Thus, the possibilities to mimic membrane-oriented biological processes like membrane protein reconstitution are limited.…”

Geometry-induced protein reorientation on the spikes of plasmonic gold nanostars

“…Surface ligands are selected that recognize specic binding sites (over)expressed on the target tissue. [5][6][7][8] Surface loading and orientation (or conformation) of surface ligands will alter signicantly the interaction these nanostructures with cells by changing the activity of these ligands, but is rarely considered for rationale design of these particles. [9][10][11] Currently, it is unclear whether protein-gold nanoparticle (AuNP) binding (capacity or conformation) at the nanoparticle surface are dependent on their radius of curvature.…”

Impact of Nanocapsules on Red Blood Cells Interplay Jointly Assessed by Optical Tweezers and Microscopy

“…Nowadays, there are numerous delivery systems such as: natural biological vehicles (such as bacteria and viruses [1,2], various cell types including red blood cells (RBCs) [3][4][5], immune cells [6,7], stem cells [8][9][10][11] and manufactured carriers (liposomes [12], micelle [13], polymeric capsules [14][15][16][17], polymeric complexes [18][19][20][21]). Polymeric nanocapsules (NCs) are a promising system of natural carriers for targeted drug delivery because of their low cytotoxicity, shell flexibility, and high in vivo stability [22][23][24][25][26]. A wide range of drugs [27][28][29] and nucleotides of ribonucleic acid (RNA)/deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) [30][31][32] can be effectively encapsulated in the polymer capsules.…”