BPCR Conference

BPCR conference (August 29, 2018 9AM - 4PM: Kurz Purdue Technology Center, West Lafayette, IN) is a free, 1-day scientific-networking conference hosted by Akina, Inc. See more BPCRconference.com.

PLGA from PolySciTech used in development of bio-inspired nanoparticles for improved circulation times as part of cancer treatment

The human immune system is quite adept at attacking anything which is perceived as ‘non-self,’ including medicinal delivery systems such as nanoparticles. Once the particles are identified as ‘non-self’, white-blood cells and other macrophages clear them rapidly out of the blood stream limiting their capacity to deliver medicine to their intended destination. Recently, researchers at Beihua University (China) used PLGA (PolyVivo Cat# AP041) from PolySciTech (www.polyscitech.com) to create docetaxel-loaded nanoparticles. These particles were subsequently coated with red-blood-cell membrane components to ‘disguise’ the particles, making them appear ‘self’ to macrophages. This strategy improves the nanoparticles longevity in the blood-stream and functional uptake to their intended target. This research holds promise for improved chemotherapeutic treatments in the future. Read more: Xu, Lei, Shuo Wu, and Xiaoqiu Zhou. "Bioinspired nanocarriers for an effective chemotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma." Journal of Biomaterials Applications (2018): 0885328218772721. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0885328218772721

“Abstract: Drug-loaded nanoparticles have been widely researched in the antitumor. However, some of them are unsatisfactory in the long blood circulation and controlled drug release. Red blood cell (RBC) membrane vesicles (RV)-coated nanoparticles have gained more and more attention in drug delivery for their many unique advantages, such as excellent stability, long blood circulation, and reduced the macrophage cells uptake. Herein, by utilizing the advantages of RV, we fabricated RV-coated poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA)–docetaxel (RV/PLGA/DTX) nanoparticles to enhance the antitumor efficiency in vivo. The RV/PLGA/DTX showed spherical morphology with particle size of about 100 nm and zeta potential at −12.63 mV, which could maintain stability for a long time. The RV/PLGA/DTX significantly enhanced cellular uptake of DTX compared to PLGA/DTX in HepG2 cells. Moreover, RV/PLGA/DTX showed the strongest antitumor effect in vitro. Prolonged blood circulation and enhanced DTX accumulation at the tumor site through enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect were achieved by RV/PLGA/DTX, which eventually obtained satisfactory antitumor effect and depressed system toxicity on mice bearing HepG2 xenografts mouse models when compared with free DTX. The hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and immunofluorescence assays further proved the advantages of RV/PLGA/DTX in vivo antitumor. These RV-coated nanoparticles provide a mimetic therapy, completely inhibited the growth of the HepG2 cells, and with simple compositions, suggesting it to be an ideal strategy for improving the antitumor effect of drug-loaded nanoparticles. Keywords: Controlled drug delivery, docetaxel, malignancy therapeutics, PLGA nanoparticles, RBC-mimetic”

BPCR conference (August 29, 2018 9AM - 4PM: Kurz Purdue Technology Center, West Lafayette, IN) is a free, 1-day scientific-networking conference hosted by Akina, Inc. See more BPCRconference.com.

PLGA from PolySciTech used in development of brain-cancer targeting liposome therapy

A common problem which afflicts all brain-treatment methodologies is the presence of the blood-brain-barrier, a system which prevents most medicines in the bloodstream from crossing over into the brain cavity. Overcoming this barrier is not a trivial task and necessary for treating ailments ranging from glioblastoma to Alzheimer’s disease. Recently, researchers from North Dakota State University utilized PLGA (PolyVivo cat# AP022) from PolySciTech (www.polyscitech.com) combined with chitosan to develop an in-vitro brain tumor model to test uptake by cancer cells of 5-FU loaded liposomes. This research holds promise to improve therapeutic options for brain cancer. Read more: Lakkadwala, Sushant, and Jagdish Singh. "Dual Functionalized 5-Fluorouracil Liposomes as Highly Efficient Nanomedicine for Glioblastoma Treatment as Assessed in an In Vitro Brain Tumor Model." Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences (2018). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022354918304556

“Abstract: Drug delivery to the brain has been a major challenge due to the presence of the blood brain barrier (BBB), which limits the uptake of most chemotherapeutics into brain. We developed a dual-functionalized liposomal delivery system, conjugating cell penetrating peptide penetratin to transferrin-liposomes (Tf-Pen-conjugated liposomes) to enhance the transport of an anticancer chemotherapeutic drug, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), across the BBB into the tumor cells. The in vitro cellular uptake study showed that the dual-functionalized liposomes are capable of higher cellular uptake in glioblastoma (U87) and brain endothelial (bEnd.3) cells monolayer. In addition, dual-functionalized liposomes demonstrated significantly higher apoptosis in U87 cells. The liposomal nanoparticles showed excellent blood compatibility and in vitro cell viability, as studied by hemolysis and MTT assay, respectively. The 5-FU loaded dual-functionalized liposomes demonstrated higher transport across the brain endothelial barrier and delivered 5-FU to tumor cells inside PLGA-chitosan scaffold (an in vitro brain tumor model), resulting in significant tumor regression. Keywords: blood brain barrier liposomes nanomedicine biocompatibility cancer chemotherapy targeted drug delivery”


BPCR conference (August 29, 2018 9AM - 4PM: Kurz Purdue Technology Center, West Lafayette, IN) is a free, 1-day scientific-networking conference hosted by Akina, Inc. See more BPCRconference.com.

Fluorescent PLGA-rhodamine from PolySciTech used to investigate albumin-coating for nanoparticle transport

There is nothing more annoying than carefully crafting a nanoparticle system only to watch the drug-loaded therapeutic particles be gobbled up by macrophages (white blood cells) as soon as they are introduced into the blood-stream. There are many ways to protect the nanoparticles from the immune system, one of which is to provide an albumin coating that the immune system will generally recognize as ‘self’ and not attack. However, to be recognized, the albumin protein must be in the right shape and conformation and this property can be affected by ‘how’ it is coated onto the particle. Recently, researchers at Purdue University and Seoul National University utilized PLGA (PolyVivo Cat# AP031) and PLGA-rhodamine B endcap (PolyVivo Cat# AV011) from PolySciTech (www.polyscitech.com) to create nanoparticles which were coated with albumin by various techniques and they tracked the motion and fate of these particles using fluorescent techniques. This research holds promise for providing for improved nanotherapy in the future. Read more: Hyun, Hyesun, Joonyoung Park, Kiela Willis, Ji Eun Park, L. Tiffany Lyle, Wooin Lee, and Yoon Yeo. "Surface modification of polymer nanoparticles with native albumin for enhancing drug delivery to solid tumors." Biomaterials (2018). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142961218305088

“Abstract: Albumin is a promising surface modifier of nanoparticulate drug delivery systems. Serving as a dysopsonin, albumin can protect circulating nanoparticles (NPs) from the recognition and clearance by the mononuclear phagocytic system (MPS). Albumin may also help transport the NPs to solid tumors based on the increased consumption by cancer cells and interactions with the tumor microenvironment. Several studies have explored the benefits of surface-bound albumin to enhance NP delivery to tumors. However, it remains unknown how the surface modification process affects the conformation of albumin and the performance of the albumin-modified NPs. We use three different surface modification methods including two prevalent approaches (physisorption and interfacial embedding) and a new method based on dopamine polymerization to modify the surface of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) NPs with albumin and compare the extent of albumin binding, conformation of the surface-bound albumin, and biological performances of the albumin-coated NPs. We find that the dopamine polymerization method preserves the albumin structure, forming a surface layer that facilitates NP transport and drug delivery into tumors via the interaction with albumin-binding proteins. In contrast, the interfacial embedding method creates NPs with denatured albumin that offers no particular benefit to the interaction with cancer cells but rather promotes the MPS uptake via direct and indirect interactions with scavenger receptor A. This study demonstrates that the surface-bound albumin can bring distinct effects according to the way they interact with NP surface and thus needs to be controlled in order to achieve favorable therapeutic outcomes.”

BPCR conference (August 29, 2018 9AM - 4PM: Kurz Purdue Technology Center, West Lafayette, IN) is a free, 1-day scientific-networking conference hosted by Akina, Inc. See more BPCRconference.com.

PLGA-Poly(lysine) from PolySciTech used in development of stem-cell based nerve-tissue repair model

The lack of natural nerve-tissue repair is one of the leading factors in a variety of diseases and traumatic injuries including spinal cord injury, brain-damage (due to injury or lack of blood flow), and peripheral nerve damage. Nerve tissue does not naturally heal well making the damage from these events permanent over a life-time. Stem-cells are generic precursor cells which can become any type of cell (i.e. muscle, fat, skin, nerve, bone, etc.). These hold promise to provide for repair of a wide variety of tissues, when cultured and handled under the right conditions that encourage these cells to become (differentiate) into the specific cell-type for that tissue. Recently, researchers at Harvard used PLGA-Polylysine (AI028) from PolySciTech (www.polyscitech.com) as part of development of research tool for investigating neural cell development from stem-cells. This research holds promise to enable further development of neural-tissue engineering. Read more: Thakor, Devang K., Lei Wang, Darcy Benedict, Serdar Kabatas, Ross D. Zafonte, and Yang D. Teng. "Establishing an Organotypic System for Investigating Multimodal Neural Repair Effects of Human Mesenchymal Stromal Stem Cells." Current protocols in stem cell biology (2018): e58. https://currentprotocols.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cpsc.58

“Abstract: Human mesenchymal stromal stem cells (hMSCs) hold regenerative medicine potential due to their availability, in vitro expansion readiness, and autologous feasibility. For neural repair, hMSCs show translational value in research on stroke, spinal cord injury (SCI), and traumatic brain injury. It is pivotal to establish multimodal in vitro systems to investigate molecular mechanisms underlying neural actions of hMSCs. Here, we describe a platform protocol on how to set up organotypic co‐cultures of hMSCs (alone or polymer‐scaffolded) with explanted adult rat dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) to determine neural injury and recovery events for designing implants to counteract neurotrauma sequelae. We emphasize in vitro hMSC propagation, polymer scaffolding, hMSC stemness maintenance, hMSC‐DRG interaction profiling, and analytical formulas of neuroinflammation, trophic factor expression, DRG neurite outgrowth and tropic tracking, and in vivo verification of tailored implants in rodent models of SCI.”

BPCR conference (August 29, 2018 9AM - 4PM: Kurz Purdue Technology Center, West Lafayette, IN) is a free, 1-day scientific-networking conference hosted by Akina, Inc. See more BPCRconference.com.

Akina CRS 2018 Posters now available online

The full posters presented at 2018 CRS by Akina, Inc. These include CRS Poster # 95: J. Hadar, J. Garner, S. Skidmore, K. Park, H. Park, Y. K. Jhon, Y. Wang “Correlation Analysis of Refractive Index (dn/dc) for PLGAs with Different Ratios of Lactide to Glycolide” Presenter: Justin Hadar.; CRS Poster # 409: J. Hadar, J. Garner, S. Skidmore, K. Park, H. Park, D. Kozak, Y. Wang “Solvent-dependent PLGA solubility for separation of PLGAs with different lactide:glycolide ratios” Presenter: John Garner.) are now available in high-resolution pdf online on Akina’s publications page (http://polyscitech.com/currentResearch/publications.php)


BPCR conference (August 29, 2018 9AM - 4PM: Kurz Purdue Technology Center, West Lafayette, IN) is a free, 1-day scientific-networking conference hosted by Akina, Inc. See more BPCRconference.com.

Akina Presenting Scientific Posters at Controlled Release Society (2018) Meeting

Employees of Akina, Inc (www.akinainc.com) will be presenting scientific posters at the 2018 Controlled Release Society (CRS) annual meeting July 22-24th, 2018 New York, NY (https://2018.controlledreleasesociety.org/, #CRSNYC ). These posters are based on research projects supported by the Food and Drug Administration. This research primarily involves development of analytical methods for testing poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) used in parental long-acting formulations. This research can help in developing methods to establish Q1/Q2 ‘sameness’ for depot-injectable type products. Make sure you take a moment to stop by these posters:

CRS Poster # 95: J. Hadar, J. Garner, S. Skidmore, K. Park, H. Park, Y. K. Jhon, Y. Wang “Correlation Analysis of Refractive Index (dn/dc) for PLGAs with Different Ratios of Lactide to Glycolide” Presenter: Justin Hadar.

CRS Poster # 409: J. Hadar, J. Garner, S. Skidmore, K. Park, H. Park, D. Kozak, Y. Wang “Solvent-dependent PLGA solubility for separation of PLGAs with different lactide:glycolide ratios” Presenter: John Garner.