• BMB Reports
• /
• v.49 no.11
• /
• pp.585-586
• /
• 2016

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are natural carriers of biomolecules that play central roles in cell-to-cell communications. Based on this, there have been various attempts to use EVs as therapeutic drug carriers. From chemical reagents to nucleic acids, various macromolecules were successfully loaded into EVs; however, loading of proteins with high molecular weight has been huddled with several problems. Purification of recombinant proteins is expensive and time consuming, and easily results in modification of proteins due to physical or chemical forces. Also, the loading efficiency of conventional methods is too low for most proteins. We have recently proposed a new method, the so-called exosomes for protein loading via optically reversible protein-protein interaction (EXPLORs), to overcome the limitations. Since EXPLORs are produced by actively loading of intracellular proteins into EVs using blue light without protein purification steps, we demonstrated that the EXPLOR technique significantly improves the loading and delivery efficiency of therapeutic proteins. In further in vitro and in vivo experiments, we demonstrate the potential of EXPLOR technology as a novel platform for biopharmaceuticals, by successful delivery of several functional proteins such as Cre recombinase, into the target cells.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
• /
• v.36 no.6
• /
• pp.355-361
• /
• 2006

Intraarticular corticosteroid injections for therapy of rheumatic arthritis are administered with the aim of optimal local anti-inflammatory effect at the injection site. Since the side effects of corticosteroidal drug, dexamethasone(DEX), administered at hish dose limited the therapeutic efficacy, there was a need to design a new drug delivery system for controlled release of dexamethasone. As a prodrug for continuous therapeutic efficacy, dexamethasone-21-palmitate(DEX-PAL) was prepared via esterification of palmitoyl chloride and dexamethasone. DEX-PAL was identified by NMR and MASS analysis. DEX-PAL or DEX was entrapped in lipid nanosphere which could be prepared by using a self emulsification-solvent evaporation method. Physicochemical characteristics such as mean particle diameter, zeta potential and drug loading efficiency of the lipid nanospheres were investigated with variation of either the kind of lipid or the lipid composition. The lipid nanospheres had a mean diameter $83{\sim}95$ nm and DEX-PAL loading efficiency of up to 95%. The drug loading efficiency increased with the increase of aliphatic chain length attached to the phospholipid. The incorporation of cationic lipid was very efficient for both reducing particle size of lipid nanospheres and enhancing drug loading efficiency. The lipid nanospheres containing DEX-PAL may be a promising novel drug carrier for the controlled release of the poorly water-soluble drugs.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.163-169
• /
• 2008

Liposomes are spherical vesicles composed of lipid bilayer membranes. However, the conventional liposomes have been found to be plagued by rapid opsonization and taken up by the reticuloendothelial system (RES), resulting in shortened circulation time and limited intracellular uptake to target cell. In this study, polyethyleneglycol-cationic liposomes (PCL) containing cationic lipid and DSPE-mPEG were prepared by thin film cast-hydration method. The PEG liposomes had approximately $97.0{\pm}1.3\;nm$ of mean particle diameter and $-21.7{\pm}1.2\;mV$ of zeta potential value. PCL had $96.4{\pm}1.8\;nm$ of mean particle diameter and $-8.7{\pm}1.1\;mV$ of zeta potential value with a decrease of about 10 mV compared to the PEG liposomes. Loading of model drug, doxorubicin (DOX), in liposomes were carried out by using remote loading method and the loading efficiency of DOX in liposomes was about $95.0{\pm}1.9%$. Intracellular uptake and cytotoxicity of PCL were higher than that of PEG liposomes to murine B16F10 melanoma cells. In addition, anti-tumor activity of PCL was similar to that of PEG liposomes on growth of A549 human lung carcinoma in BALB/c mice. Consequently, PCL modified with cationic lipid may be applicable as anticancer drug carriers that can increase intracellular uptake and therapeutic efficacy.

• Biomaterials Research
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.290-302
• /
• 2018

Background: The main purpose of drug delivery systems is to deliver the drugs at the appropriate concentration to the precise target site. Recently, the application of a thin film in the field of drug delivery has gained increasing interest because of its ability to safely load drugs and to release the drug in a controlled manner, which improves drug efficacy. Drug loading by the thin film can be done in various ways, depending on type of the drug, the area of exposure, and the purpose of drug delivery. Main text: This review summarizes the various methods used for preparing thin films with drugs via Layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly. Furthermore, additional functionalities of thin films using surface modification in drug delivery are briefly discussed. There are three types of methods for preparing a drug-carrying multilayered film using LbL assembly. First methods include approaches for direct loading of the drug into the pre-fabricated multilayer film. Second methods are preparing thin films using drugs as building blocks. Thirdly, the drugs are incorporated in the cargo so that the cargo itself can be used as the materials of the film. Conclusion: The appropriate designs of the drug-loaded film were produced in consideration of the release amounts and site of the desired drug. Furthermore, additional surface modification using the LbL technique enabled the preparation of effective drug delivery carriers with improved targeting effect. Therefore, the multilayer thin films fabricated by the LbL technique are a promising candidate for an ideal drug delivery system and the development possibilities of this technology are infinite.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.30-35
• /
• 1996

Poly(l-lactic acid)(PLLA) microspheres loaded with ampicillin sodium (AMP-Na_, .betha.-lactam antibiotic, were prepared by a w/o/w multiple emulsion-solvent evaporation method. The amounts of each component in three phases (inner water phase, organic phase, and outer water phase) wre carefully examined in the preparation of PLLA microspheres. The stirring rate, another preparation parameter, was also investigated for study on the effect of mechanical stress on the drug loading and morphology of PLLA microspheres. Most of the preparation parameters had a great influence on the drug loading, surface morphology and size distribution of PLLA microspheres. PLLA microspheres with 15.89 w/w% drug loading were subjected to the in vitro release experimet. The release of ampicillin sodium was constant at a rate of 1.68 $mug/ml/day$ per 1 mg of microspheres for 18 days initial burst effect.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.33-38
• /
• 2010

Sibutramine is a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor indicated for the management of obesity in conjunction with a reduced calorie diet. The oral administration of sibutramine is followed by its dose-related side effects. In this study, sibutramine was formulated into drug in adhesive (DIA) patches in an attempt to overcome these problems. The effects of different formulation variables including pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA), loading amount of drug, thickness of matrix and enhancer on the skin permeation of the drug were evaluated using excised hairless mouse skin. In the acrylic adhesive with carboxyl functional group, low release of sibutramine was observed due to the strong interaction between carboxyl group of adhesive and amine group of sibutramine. The acrylic adhesive without functional group provided good adhesion force and allowed high drug loading. Changing drug load as well as thickness of the matrix was found to alter permeation rate. $Crovol^{(R)}$ PK40 and $Crovol^{(R)}$ A40, were found to be effective enhancers for sibutramine. The optimized patch contained 20% sibutramine, and 5% $Crovol^{(R)}$ A40 as permeation enhancer, in $80\;{\mu}m$ thick Duro-$Tak^{(R)}$ 87-9301 matrix.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
• /
• v.41 no.6
• /
• pp.347-354
• /
• 2011

Repeated oral administration of loxoprofen can induce many side effects such as gastric disturbances and acidosis. Therefore, we considered alternative routes of administration for loxoprofen to avoid such adverse effects. The aim of this study was to develop an ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) matrix system containing a permeation enhancer for enhanced transdermal delivery of loxoprofen. The EVA matrix containing loxoprofen was fabricated and the effects of drug concentration, temperature, enhancer and plasticizer on drug release were studied from the loxoprofen-EVA matrix. The solubility of loxoprofen was highest at 40% (v/v) PEG 400. The release rate of drug from drug-EVA matrix increased with increased loading dose and temperature. The release rate was proportional to the square root of loading dose. The activation energy (Ea), which was measured from the slope of log P versus 1000/T, was 5.67 kcal/mol for a 2.0% loaded drug dose from the EVA matrix. Among the plasticizer used, diethyl phthalate showed the highest release rate of loxoprofen. Among the enhancers used, polyoxyethylene 2-oleyl ether showed the greatest enhancing effect. In conclusion, for the enhanced controlled transdermal delivery of loxoprofen, the application of the EVA matrix containing plasticizer and penetration enhancer could be useful in the development of a controlled drug delivery system.

• Macromolecular Research
• /
• v.15 no.6
• /
• pp.547-552
• /
• 2007

Water soluble polymer, poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) was chosen to conjugate with 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-(succinyl) (N-succinyl DPPE) to make a new drug delivery system. PVP with an amine group (amino-PVP) was polymerized by free radical polymerization. The amine group of amino-PVP was conjugated with the carboxylic group of N-succinyl DPPE. The resultant conjugate could form nanoparticles in the aqueous solution; these nanoparticles were termed a lipid-polymer system. The critical aggregation concentration was measured with pyrene to give a value of $1{\times}10^{-3}g/L$. The particle size of the lipid-polymer system, as measured by DLS, AFM and TEM, was about 70 nm. Lipophilic component in the inner part of the lipid-polymer system could derive the physical interaction with hydrophobic drugs. Griseofulvin was used as a model drug in this study. The loading efficiency and release profile of the drug were measured by HPLC. The loading efficiency was about 54%. The release behavior was sustained for a prolonged time of 12 days. The proposed lipid-polymer system with biodegradable and biocompatible properties has promising potential as a passive-targeting drug delivery carrier because of its small particle size.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.397-402
• /
• 2007

Restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) continues to be a serious problem in clinical cardiology. To solve this problem, drug eluting stents (DES) with antiproliferative agents have been developed. Variable local drug delivery systems in the context of stenting require the development of stent manufacture, drug pharmacology and coating technology. We have worked on a system that integrates electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technology with the polymeric nanoparticles in DES for local drug delivery and a controlled release system. The surface morphology and drug loading amount of DES by EPD have been investigated under different operational conditions, such as operation time, voltage and the composition of media. We prepared poly-D,L-lactide-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nanoparticles embedded with curcumin, which was done by a modified spontaneous emulsification method and used polyacrylic acid (PAA) as a surfactant because its carboxylic group contribute negative charge to the surface of CPNPs (?53.5 ± 5.8 mV). In the process of ‘trial and error' endeavors, we found that it is easy to control the drug loading amount deposited onto the stent while keeping uniform surface morphology. Accordingly, stent coating by EPD has a wide application to the modification of DES using various kinds of nanoparticles and drugs.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.183-188
• /
• 1995

Polymeric reinforcement and coatings of alginate beads were carried out to control the release rate of drug from alginate beads. A poorly water-soluble ibuprofen (IPF) was selected as a model drug. A commercially available $Eudragit^{\circledR}$ RS100 was also used as a polymer. Effects of polymeric contents, the presence of plasticizers and amount of drug loading on the release rate of drug were investigated. The release rate of drug from alginate beads in the simulated gastric fluid did not occur within 2 h but released immediately when dissolution media were switched to the simulated intestinal fluid. No significant difference of release rate from polymer-reinforced alginate bead without plasticizers was observed when compared to plain (simple) beads. However, the release rate of drug from polymer-reinforced alginate beads was further sustained and retarded when aluminium tristearate (AT) as a plasticizer was added to polymer. However, polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG400) did not change the release rate of drug from alginate beads although PEG400 was used to improve dispersion of polymer and sodium alginate, and plasticize $Eudragit^{\circledR}$ RS100 polymer. The presence of plasticizer was crucial to reinforce alginate gel matrices using a polymer. As the amount of drug loading increased, the release rate of drug increased as a result of decreasing effects of polymer contents in matrices. The significantly sustained release of drug from polymer-coated alginate beads occurred as the amount of polymer increased because the thickness of coated membrane increased so that cracks and pores of the outer surface of alginate beads could be reduced. The sustained and retarded action of polymer-reinforced and coated beads may result from the disturbance of swelling and erosion (disintegration) of alginate beads. From these findings, polymeric-reinforcement and coatings of alginate gel beads can provide an advanced delivery system by retarding the release rate of various drugs.