PLA and PEG-PLA from PolySciTech used in the development of PLA-graft-insulin as a drug-delivery platform

 

Although polyethylene glycol (PEG) is generally considered to have a good safety profile, it does present an allergic reaction in certain patients. Alternative hydrophilic blocks can enable the generation of nanoparticles/micelles without using this compound. Recently, researchers at University of Salerno (Italy) used PLA (Cat# AP005 and Cat# AP231) and mPEG-PLA (Cat# AK009) from PolySciTech (www.polyscitech.com) to graft PLA polymers onto insulin and create nanoparticles loaded with this grafted PLA-Insulin material. This research holds promise to improve therapies against cancer and other diseases which bypass the issues that affect PEG. Read more: Sardo, Carla, Teresa Mencherini, Carmela Tommasino, Tiziana Esposito, Paola Russo, Pasquale Del Gaudio, and Rita Patrizia Aquino. "Inulin-g-poly-D, L-lactide, a sustainable amphiphilic copolymer for nano-therapeutics." Drug Delivery and Translational Research (2022): 1-17. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13346-022-01135-4

“Cancer therapies started to take a big advantage from new nanomedicines on the market. Since then, research tried to better understand how to maximize efficacy while maintaining a high safety profile. Polyethylene glycol (PEG), the gold standard for nanomedicines coating design, is a winning choice to ensure a long circulation and colloidal stability, while in some cases, patients could develop PEG-directed immunoglobulins after the first administration. This lead to a phenomenon called accelerated blood clearance (ABC effect), and it is correlated with clinical failure because of the premature removal of the nanosystem from the circulation by immune mechanism. Therefore, alternatives to PEG need to be found. Here, looking at the backbone structural analogy, the hydrophilicity, flexibility, and its GRAS status, the natural polysaccharide inulin (INU) was investigated as PEG alternative. In particular, the first family of Inulin-g-poly-D,L-lactide amphiphilic copolymers (INU-PLAs) was synthesized. The new materials were fully characterized from the physicochemical point of view (solubility, 1D and 2D NMR, FT-IR, UV–Vis, GPC, DSC) and showed interesting hybrid properties compared to precursors. Moreover, their ability in forming stable colloids and to serve as a carrier for doxorubicin were investigated and compared with the already well-known and well-characterized PEGylated counterpart, polyethylene glycol-b-poly-D,L-lactide (PEG-PLA). This preliminary investigation showed INU-PLA to be able to assemble in nanostructures less than 200 nm in size and capable of loading doxorubicin with an encapsulation efficiency in the same order of magnitude of PEG-PLA analogues.