Combinatorial Intracellular Delivery Screening of Anticancer Drugs

Thermoplasmonic Polymersome Membranes by In Situ Synthesis

Thermoplasmonic nanoparticles, known for releasing heat upon illumination, find diverse applications in catalysis, optics, and biomedicine. Incorporating plasmonic metals within organic vesicle membranes can lead to the formation of nanoreactors capable of regulating temperature-sensitive microscopic processes. Yet, the controlled formation of stable hybrid vesicles displaying significant thermoplasmonic properties remains challenging. This work presents the in situ synthesis of highly efficient thermoplasmonic polymer vesicles, or hybrid polymersomes, by nucleating ∼2 nm gold nanoparticles within preformed polymersome membranes. This process preserves the vesicles' morphology, stability, and overall functionality. Despite the small size of the embedded plasmonic nanoparticles, these hybrid polymersomes can efficiently convert laser light into a notable temperature increase on a larger scale through collective heating. We develop a theoretical framework that rationalizes the structure-property relations of hybrid polymersomes and accurately predicts their collective thermoplasmonic response. Finally, we demonstrate the biomedical potential of our polymersomes by employing their photothermal properties to induce the hyperthermal death of cancer cells in vitro, an effect amplified by their superior cellular uptake. We envision that these hybrid polymersomes will evolve into a versatile platform for precise control over nanoscale chemical and biological processes through plasmonic heating, unlocking numerous opportunities across various scientific and medical contexts.

Nanocarriers address intracellular barriers for efficient drug delivery, overcoming drug resistance, subcellular targeting and controlled release

The cellular barriers are major bottlenecks for bioactive compounds entering into cells to accomplish their biological functions, which limits their biomedical applications. Nanocarriers have demonstrated high potential and benefits for encapsulating bioactive compounds and efficiently delivering them into target cells by overcoming a cascade of intracellular barriers to achieve desirable therapeutic and diagnostic effects. In this review, we introduce the cellular barriers ahead of drug delivery and nanocarriers, as well as summarize recent advances and strategies of nanocarriers for increasing internalization with cells, promoting intracellular trafficking, overcoming drug resistance, targeting subcellular locations and controlled drug release. Lastly, the future perspectives of nanocarriers for intracellular drug delivery are discussed, which mainly focus on potential challenges and future directions. Our review presents an overview of intracellular drug delivery by nanocarriers, which may encourage the future development of nanocarriers for efficient and precision drug delivery into a wide range of cells and subcellular targets.

Bottom-Up Preparation of Phase-Separated Polymersomes

A bottom-up approach to fabricating monodisperse, two-component polymersomes that possess phase-separated ("patchy") chemical topology is presented. This approach is compared with already-existing top-down preparation methods for patchy polymer vesicles, such as film rehydration. These findings demonstrate a bottom-up, solvent-switch self-assembly approach that produces a high yield of nanoparticles of the target size, morphology, and surface topology for drug delivery applications, in this case patchy polymersomes of a diameter of ≈50 nm. In addition, an image processing algorithm to automatically calculate polymersome size distributions from transmission electron microscope images based on a series of pre-processing steps, image segmentation, and round object identification is presented.

Polymersome-based protein drug delivery - quo vadis?

Protein-based therapeutics are an attractive alternative to established therapeutic approaches and represent one of the fastest growing families of drugs. While many of these proteins can be delivered using established formulations, the intrinsic sensitivity of proteins to denaturation sometimes calls for a protective carrier to allow administration. Historically, lipid-based self-assembled structures, notably liposomes, have performed this function. After the discovery of polymersome-based targeted drug-delivery systems, which offer manifold advantages over lipid-based structures, the scientific community expected that such systems would take the therapeutic world by storm. However, no polymersome formulations have been commercialised. In this review article, we discuss key obstacles for the sluggish translation of polymersome-based protein nanocarriers into approved pharmaceuticals, which include limitations imparted by the use of non-degradable polymers, the intricacies of polymersome production methods, and the complexity of the in vivo journey of polymersomes across various biological barriers. Considering this complex subject from a polymer chemist's point of view, we highlight key areas that are worthy to explore in order to advance polymersomes to a level at which clinical trials become worthwhile and translation into pharmaceutical and nanomedical applications is realistic.

[Solubilization of Poorly Water-soluble Drugs with Amphiphilic Phospholipid Polymers]

Most drug candidates developed in recent years are poorly water-soluble, which is a key challenge in pharmaceutical science. Various solubilization methods have been investigated thus far, most of which require solubilizers that provide a local hydrophobic environment wherein a drug can dissolve or induce interactions with drug molecules. We have focused on amphiphilic 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphoryl choline (MPC) polymers. In addition to the ease of molecular design of amphiphilic MPC polymers owing to their chemical structures, they have been reported to possess high biocompatibility in various biomaterial applications. Additionally, amphiphilic MPC polymers have been applied in the pharmaceutical field, especially in solubilization. We have qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated the effects of the chemical structure and physical properties of the solubilizer on the MPC polymers. In particular, MPC polymers with different chemical structures were designed and synthesized. The inner polarity and molecular mobility in the polymer aggregates were evaluated, indicating that the intrinsic properties reflect the chemical structure of the polymer. Additionally, amphiphilic MPC polymers were used to improve the solubility of poorly water-soluble drugs and as solid dispersion carriers, and they exhibited superior solubilizing abilities compared to a commonly used polymer. Furthermore, the solubility of biopharmaceuticals, such as peptides, was improved. It is possible to design and synthesize optimal structures based on the polarity of the hydrophobic environment and the intermolecular interaction with a drug. This research provides a unified interpretation of drugs and efficiently summarizes knowledge about drug development, which will facilitate the efficient and rapid development of drug formulations.

Recent progress and perspectives in applications of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine polymers in biodevices at small scales

Bioinspired materials have attracted attention in a wide range of fields. Among these materials, a polymer family containing 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC), which has a zwitterionic phosphorylcholine headgroup inspired by the...