Taking Particle Tracking into Practice by Novel Software and Screening Approach: Case-Study of Oral Lipid Nanocarriers

Unveiling the role of poly(vinyl alcohol) in the production of mucus-penetrating PLGA nanoparticles

Mucosal drug delivery offers a promising non-invasive approach in pharmaceutical sciences but faces challenges from the protective mucus layer on mucosal surfaces, limiting drug absorption. Polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) have emerged as effective carriers, leveraging their small size to enhance mucus penetration and drug absorption. This study investigates polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)'s role in enhancing poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) NPs for mucosal drug delivery. While PVA is commonly used as an emulsion stabilizer, its impact on NP mucoadhesiveness and mucodiffusivity is often overlooked. We characterized PLGA-based NPs with varying PVA types, employing particle tracking and molecular dynamics to demonstrate PVA's direct interaction with mucin MUC 5B. Our findings show reduced interaction with lower PVA hydrolysis, with particle tracking confirming PVA properties influence mucoadhesion. This study underscores PVA's critical role in optimizing NP efficacy for mucosal drug delivery, offering insights for developing more effective drug delivery systems.

Understanding the role of the structure of single-stimuli hybrid systems on their behaviour as platforms for colonic delivery

The success of colon-targeted oral hybrid systems relies in the proper control over the release of the entrapped nanostructures at the colon. This work describes the design of hybrid systems for their colonic enzyme-triggered release. The hybrid systems were constituted by nanoemulsions, with adequate characteristics for the treatment of ulcerative colitis, included in a pectin hydrogel-like matrix. For that purpose, pectins with similar degrees of methylation (< 50%) and increasing degree of amidation, i.e. 0, 13 and 20%, were selected. Hybrid systems were formulated by a novel aggregation induced gelation method, using Ca2+, Ba2+ or Zn2+ as aggregating agents, as well as by a polyelectrolyte condensation approach, obtaining structures in the micrometric range (< 10 μm). Despite the resistance of pectins to the upper gastrointestinal tract stimuli, the analysis of the behaviour of the different prototypes showed that the non-covalent crosslinks that allow the formation of the hybrid structure may play a relevant role on the performance of the formulation.Our results indicated that the partial disassembling of the hybrid system's microstructure due to the intestinal conditions may facilitate the stimuli-triggered release of the nanoemulsions at the colon. More interestingly, the particle tracking experiments showed that the condensation process that occurs during the formation of the system may affect to the enzymatic degradation of pectin. In this sense, the effect of the high degree of amidation of pectin may be more prevalent as structural feature rather than as a promoter of the enzyme-triggered release.

Combinational System of Lipid-Based Nanocarriers and Biodegradable Polymers for Wound Healing: An Updated Review

Skin wounds have imposed serious socioeconomic burdens on healthcare providers and patients. There are just more than 25,000 burn injury-related deaths reported each year. Conventional treatments do not often allow the re-establishment of the function of affected regions and structures, resulting in dehydration and wound infections. Many nanocarriers, such as lipid-based systems or biobased and biodegradable polymers and their associated platforms, are favorable in wound healing due to their ability to promote cell adhesion and migration, thus improving wound healing and reducing scarring. Hence, many researchers have focused on developing new wound dressings based on such compounds with desirable effects. However, when applied in wound healing, some problems occur, such as the high cost of public health, novel treatments emphasizing reduced healthcare costs, and increasing quality of treatment outcomes. The integrated hybrid systems of lipid-based nanocarriers (LNCs) and polymer-based systems can be promising as the solution for the above problems in the wound healing process. Furthermore, novel drug delivery systems showed more effective release of therapeutic agents, suitable mimicking of the physiological environment, and improvement in the function of the single system. This review highlights recent advances in lipid-based systems and the role of lipid-based carriers and biodegradable polymers in wound healing.

MPTHub: An Open-Source Software for Characterizing the Transport of Particles in Biorelevant Media

The study of particle transport in different environments plays an essential role in understanding interactions with humans and other living organisms. Importantly, obtained data can be directly used for multiple applications in fields such as fundamental biology, toxicology, or medicine. Particle movement in biorelevant media can be readily monitored using microscopy and converted into time-resolved trajectories using freely available tracking software. However, translation into tangible and meaningful parameters is time consuming and not always intuitive. We developed new software—MPTHub—as an open-access, standalone, user-friendly tool for the rapid and reliable analysis of particle trajectories extracted from video microscopy. The software was programmed using Python and allowed to import and analyze trajectory data, as well as to export relevant data such as individual and ensemble time-averaged mean square displacements and effective diffusivity, and anomalous transport exponent. Data processing was reliable, fast (total processing time of less than 10 s), and required minimal memory resources (up to a maximum of around 150 MB in random access memory). Demonstration of software applicability was conducted by studying the transport of different polystyrene nanoparticles (100–200 nm) in mucus surrogates. Overall, MPTHub represents a freely available software tool that can be used even by inexperienced users for studying the transport of particles in biorelevant media.

A review for Cell and Particle Tracking on Microscopy Images using Algorithms and Deep Learning Technologies

Time-lapse microscopy images generated by biological experiments have been widely used for observing target activities, such as the motion trajectories and survival states. Based on these observations, biologists can conclude experimental results or present new hypotheses for several biological applications, i.e. virus research or drug design. Many methods or tools have been proposed in the past to observe cell and particle activities, which are defined as single cell tracking and single particle tracking problems, by using algorithms and deep learning technologies. In this article, a review for these works is presented in order to summarize the past methods and research topics at first, then points out the problems raised by these works, and finally proposes future research directions. The contributions of this article will help researchers to understand past development trends and further propose innovative technologies.

Pressurized Extraction as an Opportunity to Recover Antioxidants from Orange Peels: Heat treatment and Nanoemulsion Design for Modulating Oxidative Stress

Orange peel by-products generated in the food industry are an important source of value-added compounds that can be potentially reused. In the current research, the effect of oven-drying (50–70 °C) and freeze-drying on the bioactive compounds and antioxidant potential from Navelina, Salustriana, and Sanguina peel waste was investigated using pressurized extraction (ASE). Sixty volatile components were identified by ASE-GC-MS. The levels of terpene derivatives (sesquitenenes, alcohols, aldehydes, hydrocarbons, and esters) remained practically unaffected among fresh and freeze-dried orange peels, whereas drying at 70 °C caused significative decreases in Navelina, Salustriana, and Sanguina peels. Hesperidin and narirutin were the main flavonoids quantified by HPLC-MS. Freeze-dried Sanguina peels showed the highest levels of total-polyphenols (113.3 mg GAE·g⁻¹), total flavonoids (39.0 mg QE·g⁻¹), outstanding values of hesperedin (187.6 µg·g⁻¹), phenol acids (16.54 mg·g⁻¹ DW), and the greatest antioxidant values (DPPH•, FRAP, and ABTS^•+ assays) in comparison with oven-dried samples and the other varieties. Nanotechnology approaches allowed the formulation of antioxidant-loaded nanoemulsions, stabilized with lecithin, starting from orange peel extracts. Those provided 70–80% of protection against oxidative UV-radiation, also decreasing the ROS levels into the Caco-2 cells. Overall, pressurized extracts from freeze-drying orange peel can be considered a good source of natural antioxidants that could be exploited in food applications for the development of new products of commercial interest.

In Vitro Investigation of Thiolated Chitosan Derivatives as Mucoadhesive Coating Materials for Solid Lipid Nanoparticles

In the present study, chitosan (CS) was thiolated by introducing l-cysteine via amide bond formation. Free thiol groups were protected with highly reactive 6-mercaptonicotinic acid (6-MNA) and less-reactive l-cysteine, respectively, via thiol/disulfide-exchange reactions. Unmodified CS, l-cysteine-modified thiolated CS (CS-Cys), 6-MNA-S-protected thiolated CS (CS-Cys-MNA), and l-cysteine-S-protected thiolated CS (CS-Cys-Cys) were applied as coating materials to solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN). The strength of mucus interaction followed the rank order plain < CS < CS-Cys-Cys < CS-Cys < CS-Cys-MNA, whereas mucus diffusion followed the rank order CS-Cys < CS-Cys-Cys < CS < CS-Cys-MNA < plain. In accordance with lower reactivity, CS-Cys-Cys-coated SLN were immobilized to a lower extent than CS-Cys-coated SLN, while CS-Cys-MNA-coated SLN dissociated from their coating material resulting in a similar diffusion behavior as plain SLN. Consequently, CS-Cys-Cys-coated SLN and CS-Cys-MNA-coated SLN showed the highest retention on porcine intestinal mucosa by enabling a synergism of efficient mucus diffusion and strong mucoadhesion.