PLGA-PEG-PLGA from PolySciTech used in development of Propranolol delivery system for treatment of hemangioma

Hemangioma’s are a common form of a birth mark consisting of an area with an excess of blood-vessels. In the case of superficial surface hemangioma’s there may be no need for treatment as these are benign and heal over time. However, hemangioma’s can occur anywhere and if they are present in certain internal organs (for example brain or liver) or if they interfere with vision or breathing, they can be serious. Recently, researchers at Zhengzhou University (China) used PLGA-PEG-PLGA (AK016) from PolySciTech (www.polyscitech.com) to create propranolol loaded drug-delivery particles. This research holds promise to provide for improved therapy against hemangiomas. Read more: Guo, Xiaonan, Changxian Dong, Qiuyu Liu, Xiaoshuang Zhu, Song Zuo, and Hongyu Zhang. "The sustained and targeted treatment of hemangiomas by propranolol-loaded CD133 aptamers conjugated liposomes-in-microspheres." Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy 114 (2019): 108823. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332219306535

“Highlights: Propranolol-loaded CD133 aptamers conjugated liposomes-in-microspheres (PCLIM) realized sustained therapy of hemangiomas. PCLIM could inhibit the proliferation of HemSCs and expression of VEGF and bFGF in HemSCs. PCLIM could realize the targeted therapy of hemangiomas by targeting CD133-positive hemangioma-derived stem cells. Abstract: We previously developed propranolol-encapsulated liposomes-in-microspheres (PLIM) to realize the sustained propranolol release for the treatment of hemangiomas. However, the liposomes released from the microspheres still lacked specificity for CD133-positive hemangioma-derived stem cells (HemSCs) which are considered to be the seeds of hemangiomas. Therefore, we hereby encapsulated propranolol-loaded CD133 aptamers conjugated liposomes in poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) microspheres to develop propranolol-loaded CD133 aptamers conjugated liposomes-in-microspheres (PCLIM), to realize the aim of the sustained and targeted therapy of hemangiomas. The evaluation of the release of propranolol from PCLIM was carried out, and the cytotoxic effect and angiogenic growth factor expression inhibitory ability of PCLIM were performed in HemSCs. The in vivo hemangioma inhibitory ability of PCLIM was also investigated in nude mice with subcutaneous human hemangiomas. PCLIM possessed a desired size of 29.2 μm, drug encapsulation efficiency (25.3%), and a prolonged drug release for 40 days. Importantly, PCLIM could inhibit HemSCs proliferation and the protein expression of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF) in HemSCs to a greater extent compared with PLIM. In nude mice bearing hemangioma xenograft, PCLIM showed the best therapeutic efficacy towards hemangiomas, as reflected by remarkably decreased hemangioma volume, weight and microvessel density (MVD). Thus, our results demonstrated that PCLIM realized the sustained and targeted treatment of hemangiomas, resulting in remarkable inhibition of hemangiomas. Keywords: CD133 Hemangiomas Propranolol Liposomes Microspheres Sustained release”

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