Micro/Nano-system for Drug Delivery, Volume II

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "B:Biology and Biomedicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 April 2021) | Viewed by 5102

Special Issue Editors

Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
Interests: biomaterials; microfluidcs; tissue engineering; nanotechnolgy; composite material
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Bioassays, Microsystems and Optical Engineering Unit, BIOASTER, Paris, France
Interests: biomaterials; microfluidics; organ-on-chip; nanotechnology; cell separation; microbiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the last few decades, micro and nano-scaled devices and systems have gained great attention in pharmaceutical and biomedical applications, such as in the design of micro/nanoparticles, biosensors, and microdevices to perform high-throughput in vitro drug testing. For example, micelles, liposomes, dendrimers and polymeric nanoparticles are widely used in pharmaceutics for targeted drug delivery and cosmetics. The advantages over conventional systems are represented by an enhancement of delivery, an extended bioactivity, and also by minimal side effects, demonstrating high performance characteristics and more economical since minimum amounts of expensive drugs are used. In addition, novel miniaturized live-cell microdevices recently were developed by researchers around the world to screen free drug and complex delivery systems. For example, microfluidic cell-chips resolve many issues found in conventional 2D in vitro technology, providing benefits, such as reduced sample quantity and integration of 3D cell culture, physically more representative of the physiological/pathological microenvironment. To realize the full potential of these micro/nano systems, integrated platforms for preparation and testing need to be developed, offering a way to accelerate the clinical translation of novel drug delivery. Accordingly, this Special Issue seeks to showcase research papers, short communications, and review articles that focus on novel micro and nano systems used in biomedicine, nanobiotechnology and drug delivery, with a particular interest in microscale cell-chip platforms for drug screening and high-throughput experimentation.

Prof. Dr. Claudio Nastruzzi
Dr. Gabriele Pitingolo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Micromachines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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

  • Micelles
  • Liposomes
  • Polymer nanoparticles
  • Microparticles
  • Microfluidic cell chip
  • Microscale bioengineering
  • Drug delivery systems

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 2336 KiB  
Article
Transforming Tea Catechins into Potent Anticancer Compound: Analysis of Three Boronated-PEG Delivery System
by Mingyan Guo, Lukas Marek, Yixia Liang and Phei Er Saw
Micromachines 2022, 13(1), 45; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/mi13010045 - 28 Dec 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1537
Abstract
Chemotherapy has led to many undesirable side effects, as these are toxic drugs that are unable to differentiate between cancer and normal cells. Polyphenols (tea catechins) are an ideal option as alternative chemotherapeutics owing to their inherent anticancer properties, antioxidant properties and being [...] Read more.
Chemotherapy has led to many undesirable side effects, as these are toxic drugs that are unable to differentiate between cancer and normal cells. Polyphenols (tea catechins) are an ideal option as alternative chemotherapeutics owing to their inherent anticancer properties, antioxidant properties and being naturally occurring compounds, are deemed safe for consumption. However, without proper administration, the bioavailability of these compounds is low and inefficient. Therefore, proper delivery of these phenolic compounds is vital for cancer therapy. Herein, we analyzed three potential solutions to creating nanoparticle drugs using naturally occurring phenolic compounds (piceatannol (PIC), epigallocatechin gallate hydrophilic (EGCG) and l-epicatechin (EPI)). By using a simple pi-pi stacking mechanism, we utilized boronated PEG (PEG-Br) as an anchor to efficiently load EPI, PIC and EGCG, respectively, to produce three effective phenolic compound-based nanoparticles, which could be delivered safely in systemic circulation, yet detach from its cargo intracellularly to exert its anticancer effect for effective cancer therapy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nano-system for Drug Delivery, Volume II)
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21 pages, 3477 KiB  
Article
DoE Analysis of Approaches for Hydrogel Microbeads’ Preparation by Millifluidic Methods
by Anna Nastruzzi, Gabriele Pitingolo, Giovanni Luca and Claudio Nastruzzi
Micromachines 2020, 11(11), 1007; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/mi11111007 - 15 Nov 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2948
Abstract
Hydrogel microbeads hold great promise for immune-protective cell transplants and in vitro studies. Millifluidic generation of hydrogel microbeads is a highly efficient and reproducible approach enabling a mass production. This paper illustrates the preparation and characterization of highly controlled and reproducible microbeads made [...] Read more.
Hydrogel microbeads hold great promise for immune-protective cell transplants and in vitro studies. Millifluidic generation of hydrogel microbeads is a highly efficient and reproducible approach enabling a mass production. This paper illustrates the preparation and characterization of highly controlled and reproducible microbeads made by different types of hydrogel using millifluidic approaches. The optimization of the process was made by a design of experiments (DoE) approach. The microbeads’ large-scale production can be potentially used for single cells or clusters encapsulation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nano-system for Drug Delivery, Volume II)
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