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Nanomaterials Design towards Biomedical Applications (Volume II)

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomaterials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 February 2024) | Viewed by 6231

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Barbara Stella

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Guest Editor

Department of Drug Science and Technology, University of Turin, Via P. Giuria 9, 10125 Turin, Italy
Interests: polymer and lipid nanoparticles; liposomes; bioconjugates; drug delivery; controlled drug release; active targeting
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Prof. Dr. Silvia Arpicco

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Dipartimento di Scienza e Tecnologia del Farmaco, Università di Torino, Via P. Giuria 9, 10125 Torino, Italy
Interests: liposomes; actively targeted drug delivery systems; hyaluronic acid; anticancer drugs
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you to contribute a full article, short communication, or review article to the Special Issue titled “Nanomaterials Design towards Biomedical Applications (Volume II)”, which will include topics on the design of new biocompatible nanosystems suitable for use in the biomedical domain. Indeed, in recent decades, researchers have formulated old and new materials in the nanometric range in order to obtain novel physico-chemical properties from their bulk counterpart. Thus, a rapidly-growing number of organic, inorganic, and even hybrid nanomaterials have been proposed and developed for diagnostic and therapeutic applications, thanks to their versatile properties. In particular, the vast range of applications of nanomaterials include drug delivery, imaging, theranostics, vaccines and biosensors. Moreover, nanomaterials are highly interesting, as they can be functionalized in order to add suitable functional groups onto their surface as appropriate sites for the conjugation of specific ligands, ranging from small molecules to proteins and polysaccharides. Nevertheless, for application in the biomedical field, biocompatibility, biodegradability, the absence of toxicity, and the immunogenicity of these different classes of nanomaterials are important issues that need to be considered during their development; moreover, regulatory aspects must be carefully considered.

Based on this, contributions addressing topics related to the design, synthesis, characterization, and formulation of nanomaterials conceived for clinical use are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Barbara Stella
Prof. Dr. Silvia Arpicco
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

biomaterials nanocarriers
active drug targeting
biocompatibility
drug delivery
imaging
theranostics

Related Special Issue

Nanomaterials Design towards Biomedical Applications in Materials (5 articles)

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 27670 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hybrid Polymer–Inorganic Materials with Hyaluronic Acid as Controlled Antibiotic Release Systems

by Kamila Lis, Joanna Szechyńska, Dominika Träger, Julia Sadlik, Karina Niziołek, Dagmara Słota, Josef Jampilek and Agnieszka Sobczak-Kupiec

Materials 2024, 17(1), 58; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma17010058 - 22 Dec 2023

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Abstract

In recent years, significant developments have taken place in scientific fields such as tissue and materials engineering, which allow for the development of new, intelligent biomaterials. An example of such biomaterials is drug delivery systems that release the active substance directly at the site where the therapeutic effect is required. In this research, polymeric materials and ceramic–polymer composites were developed as carriers for the antibiotic clindamycin. The preparation and characterization of biomaterials based on hyaluronic acid, collagen, and nano brushite obtained using the photocrosslinking technique under UV (ultraviolet) light are described. Physical and chemical analyses of the materials obtained were carried out using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and optical microscopy. The sorption capacities were determined and subjected to in vitro incubation in simulated biological environments such as Ringer’s solution, simulated body fluid (SBF), phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and distilled water. The antibiotic release rate was also measured. The study confirmed higher swelling capacity for materials with no addition of a ceramic phase, thus it can be concluded that brushite inhibits the penetration of the liquid medium into the interior of the samples, leading to faster absorption of the liquid medium. In addition, incubation tests confirmed preliminary biocompatibility. No drastic changes in pH values were observed, which suggests that the materials are stable under these conditions. The release rate of the antibiotic from the biomaterial into the incubation medium was determined using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The concentration of the antibiotic in the incubation fluid increased steadily following a 14-day incubation in PBS, indicating continuous antibiotic release. Based on the results, it can be concluded that the developed polymeric material demonstrates potential for use as a carrier for the active substance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials Design towards Biomedical Applications (Volume II))

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13 pages, 4705 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Freeze Drying of Polymer Nanoparticles and Liposomes Exploiting Different Saccharide-Based Approaches

by Ilaria Andreana, Valeria Bincoletto, Maela Manzoli, Francesca Rodà, Vita Giarraputo, Paola Milla, Silvia Arpicco and Barbara Stella

Materials 2023, 16(3), 1212; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma16031212 - 31 Jan 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3703

Abstract

Biodegradable nanocarriers represent promising tools for controlled drug delivery. However, one major drawback related to their use is the long-term stability, which is largely influenced by the presence of water in the formulations, so to solve this problem, freeze-drying with cryoprotectants has been proposed. In the present study, the influence of the freeze-drying procedure on the storage stability of poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) nanoparticles and liposomes was evaluated. In particular, conventional cryoprotectants were added to PLGA nanoparticle and liposome formulations in various conditions. Additionally, hyaluronic acid (HA), known for its ability to target the CD44 receptor, was assessed as a cryoprotective excipient: it was added to the nanocarriers as either a free molecule or conjugated to a phospholipid to increase the interaction with the polymer or lipid matrix while exposing HA on the nanocarrier surface. The formulations were resuspended and characterized for size, polydispersity index, zeta potential and morphology. It was demonstrated that only the highest percentages of cryoprotectants allowed the resuspension of stable nanocarriers. Moreover, unlike free HA, HA-phospholipid conjugates were able to maintain the particle mean size after the reconstitution of lyophilized nanoparticles and liposomes. This study paves the way for the use of HA-phospholipids to achieve, at the same time, nanocarrier cryoprotection and active targeting. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials Design towards Biomedical Applications (Volume II))

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11 pages, 845 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Lipoproteins as Drug Carriers for Cyclosporine A: Optimization of the Entrapment

by Mona M. A. Abdel-Mottaleb, Lorenza Boi, Marina Barra, Julie Colin, Luisa Berni, Arnaud Béduneau, Brice Moulari and Yann Pellequer

Materials 2023, 16(3), 1156; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma16031156 - 29 Jan 2023

Viewed by 1034

Abstract

Lipoproteins are natural nanostructures responsible for the transport of cholesterol and other lipids in the blood. They are characterized by having a lipophilic core surrounded by an amphiphilic shell composed of phospholipids, cholesterol and one or more apolipoproteins. Being endogenous carriers makes them suitable for drug delivery purposes. Here, we investigate the effect of lipoproteins’ intricate composition on the entrapment efficiency of a model drug “Cyclosporine A” into the different types of lipoproteins, namely, HDL, LDL and VLDL. It was observed that the protein content of the lipoproteins had the highest effect on the entrapment of the drug with a correlation coefficient of 0.80, 0.81 and 0.96 for HDL, LDL and VLDL respectively. This was even confirmed by the effect of plasma on the association rate of lipoproteins and the drug. The second effective factor is the cholesterol concentration, while triglycerides and phospholipids had a negligible effect. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials Design towards Biomedical Applications (Volume II))

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