Guillaume Bastiat

Tyrosine-based rivastigmine-loaded organogels in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease

Organogels can be prepared by immobilizing an organic phase into a three-dimensional network coming from the self-assembly of a low molecular weight gelator molecule. In this work, an injectable subcutaneous organogel system based on safflower oil and a modified-tyrosine organogelator was evaluated in vivo for the delivery of rivastigmine, an acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor used in the treatment of Alzheimers disease. Different implant formulations were injected and the plasmatic drug concentration was assayed for up to 35 days. In parallel, the inhibition of AChE in different brain sections and the biocompatibility of the implants were monitored. The pharmacokinetic profiles were found to be influenced by the gel composition, injected dose and volume of the implant. The sustained delivery of rivastigmine was accompanied by a significant prolonged inhibition of AChE in the hippocampus, a brain structure involved in memory. The implant induced only a minimal to mild chronic inflammation and fibrosis, which was comparable to poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) in situ-forming implants. These findings suggest that tyrosine-based organogels could represent an alternative approach to current formulations for the sustained delivery of cholinesterase inhibitors.

A new tool to ensure the fluorescent dye labeling stability of nanocarriers: A real challenge for fluorescence imaging

Numerous studies on nanocarriers use fluorescent dye labeling to investigate their biodistribution or cellular trafficking. However, when the fluorescence dye is not grafted to the nanocarrier, the question of the stability of the labeling arises. How can it be validated that the fluorescence observed during an experiment corresponds to the nanocarriers, and not to the free dye released from the nanocarriers? Studying the integrity of the labeling is challenging. Therefore, an innovative approach to confirm the labeling stability was developed, based on the transfer of a fluorescent dye from its hosting nanocarrier to a lipophilic compartment. Lipid nanocapsules (LNC) and triglyceride oil were used as models. The protocol involved mixing of LNC suspension and oil, and then separation by centrifugation. The quality of the separation was controlled by light scattering, using the derived count rate tool. Dye transfer from loaded LNCs to the lipophilic compartment or from a lipophilic compartment containing dye to non-loaded LNC was investigated by varying the nature of the dye and the oil, the oil volume and the LNC dilution. Tensiometry was used to define the dye location in the nanocarrier. Results showed that when dyes such as Nile Red and Coumarin-6 are located in oily core, the transfer occurred in a partition-dependent manner. In contrast, when the dye was entrapped in the surfactant shell of LNCs such as lipophilic indocarbocyanines (i.e. DiO, DiI and DiD), no transfer was observed. Dye diffusion was also observed in cell culture, with Nile Red inside lipid bodies of HEI-OC1 cells, without uptake of LNCs. In contrast, DiO-loaded LNCs had to be internalized to observe fluorescence inside the cells, providing a further confirmation of the absence of transfer in this case, and the stability of fluorescence labeling of the LNCs.

Pharmaceutical organogels prepared from aromatic amino acid derivatives

Organogels are semi-solid systems in which an organic liquid phase is immobilized by a 3-dimensional network composed of self-assembled gelator molecules. Although there is a large variety of organogel systems, relatively few have been investigated in the field of drug delivery, owing mostly to the lack of information on their biocompatibility and toxicity. In this work, organogelator-biocompatible structures based on aromatic amino acids, namely, tyrosine, tryptophan, and phenylalanine were synthesized by derivatization with aliphatic chains. Their ability to gel an injectable vegetable oil (i.e. safflower oil) and to sustain the release of a model anti-Alzheimer drug (i.e. rivastigmine) was then evaluated. Organogels and molecular packing were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, rheology analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. The amino acid derivatives were able to gel safflower oil through van der Waals interactions and H-bonds. Tyrosine-derivatives produced the strongest gels while tryptophan was associated with poor gelling properties. The superior gelling ability of tyrosine derivatives could be explained by their well-structured 2-dimensional packing in the network. The addition of an optimal N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone amount to tyrosine gels fluidized the network and allowed their injection through conventional needles. Upon contact with an aqueous medium, the gels formed in situ and released entrapped rivastigmine in a sustained fashion.

In situ-forming oleogel implant for rivastigmine delivery.

PurposeTo provide a simplified dosing schedule and potentially reduce side effects associated to peak plasma concentrations, an in situ-forming oleogel implant was studied for the sustained-release of rivastigmine.Materials and methodsThe gel was prepared by dissolving 5–10% (w/w) N-stearoyl l-alanine methyl ester (SAM) organogelator in safflower oil containing either dissolved rivastigmine or its dispersed hydrogen tartrate salt. Rheological analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and infrared spectroscopy were carried out to assess the impact of drug incorporation on the oleogel; this was followed by in vitro and in vivo release studies.ResultsA weakening of intermolecular interactions was suggested by gel-sol transition temperature drops of 10–15°C upon incorporation of dissolved drug. Meanwhile, the dispersed drug salt induced minimal or no changes in transition temperature. Gels containing dispersed rivastigmine had the lowest burst in vitro (<15% in 24xa0h). In vivo, the 10% SAM formulation containing dispersed rivastigmine provided prolonged drug release within the therapeutic range for 11xa0days, with peak plasma levels well below the toxic threshold and up to five times lower than for the control formulation.ConclusionsThis study established SAM gels to be a promising option for sustained-release formulations in the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Lauroyl-gemcitabine-loaded lipid nanocapsule hydrogel for the treatment of glioblastoma

The local delivery of chemotherapeutic agents is a very promising strategy for the treatment of glioblastoma (GBM). Gemcitabine is a chemotherapeutic agent that has a different mechanism of action compared to alkylating agents and shows excellent radio-sensitizing properties. So, we developed an injectable gel-like nanodelivery system consisting in lipid nanocapsules loaded with anticancer prodrug lauroyl-gemcitabine (GemC12-LNC) in order to obtain a sustained and local delivery of this drug in the brain. In this study, the GemC12-LNC has been formulated and characterized and the viscoelastic properties of the hydrogel were evaluated after extrusion from 30G needles. This system showed a sustained and prolonged in vitro release of the drug over one month. GemC12 and the GemC12-LNC have shown increased in vitro cytotoxic activity on U-87 MG glioma cells compared to the parent hydrophilic drug. The GemC12-LNC hydrogel reduced significantly the size of a subcutaneous human GBM tumor model compared to the drug and short-term tolerability studies showed that this system is suitable for local treatment in the brain. In conclusion, this proof-of-concept study demonstrated the feasibility, safety and efficiency of the injectable GemC12-LNC hydrogel for the local treatment of GBM.

Pharmacologically active microcarriers associated with thermosensitive hydrogel as a growth factor releasing biomimetic 3D scaffold for cardiac tissue-engineering.

The challenge of tissue engineering of the infarcted heart is how to improve stem cell engraftment, survival, homing, and differentiation for myocardial repair. We here propose to integrate human adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) and pharmacologically active microcarriers (PAMs), a three-dimensional (3D) carrier of cells and growth factors, into an injectable hydrogel (HG), to obtain a system that stimulates the survival and/or differentiation of the grafted cells toward a cardiac phenotype. PAMs are biodegradable and non-cytotoxic poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microspheres conveying cells on their 3D surface that deliver continuously and in a controlled manner a growth factor (GF) acting on the transported cells and on the microenvironment to improve engraftment. The choice of the appropriate GF and its protection during the formulation process and delivery are essential. In this study two GFs, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), have been encapsulated under a solid state in order to limit their interaction with the polymer and conserve their integrity. GF precipitation conditions and release profile from PAMs have been first investigated before combining them to ADSCs. The released IGF-1 and HGF induced the protein synthesis of cardiac differentiation markers GATA4, Nkx2.5, cTnI and CX43 after 1week in vitro. Moreover, the GFs accelerated cell cycle progression, as suggested by the increased expression of Cyclin D1 mRNA and the widespread distribution of Ki67 protein. Integrating PAMs within the thermosensitive P407 hydrogel increased their elastic properties but decreased the transcription of most cardiac markers. In contrast, CX43 expression increased in ADSC-PAM-GF complexes embedded within the hydrogel compared to the ADSCs cultured alone in the absence of P407. These results suggest that particulate scaffolds releasing HGF and IGF-1 may be beneficial for applications in tissue-engineering strategies for myocardial repair and the association with a P407 hydrogel can increase substrate elasticity and junction connections in ADSCs.

Low dose gemcitabine-loaded lipid nanocapsules target monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells and potentiate cancer immunotherapy.

Tumor-induced expansion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) is known to impair the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. Among pharmacological approaches for MDSC modulation, chemotherapy with selected drugs has a considerable interest due to the possibility of a rapid translation to the clinic. However, such approach is poorly selective and may be associated with dose-dependent toxicities. In the present study, we showed that lipid nanocapsules (LNCs) loaded with a lauroyl-modified form of gemcitabine (GemC12) efficiently target the monocytic (M-) MDSC subset. Subcutaneous administration of GemC12-loaded LNCs reduced the percentage of spleen and tumor-infiltrating M-MDSCs in lymphoma and melanoma-bearing mice, with enhanced efficacy when compared to free gemcitabine. Consistently, fluorochrome-labeled LNCs were preferentially uptaken by monocytic cells rather than by other immune cells, in both tumor-bearing mice and human blood samples from healthy donors and melanoma patients. Very low dose administration of GemC12-loaded LNCs attenuated tumor-associated immunosuppression and increased the efficacy of adoptive T cell therapy. Overall, our results show that GemC12-LNCs have monocyte-targeting properties that can be useful for immunomodulatory purposes, and unveil new possibilities for the exploitation of nanoparticulate drug formulations in cancer immunotherapy.

Influence of the nature of the sterol on the behavior of palmitic acid/sterol mixtures and their derived liposomes.

The phase behavior of mixtures formed with palmitic acid (PA) and one of the following sterols (dihydrocholesterol, ergosterol, 7-dehydrocholesterol, stigmasterol and stigmastanol), in a PA/sterol molar ratio of 3/7, has been characterized by IR and (2)H NMR spectroscopy at different pH. Our study shows that it is possible to form liquid-ordered (lo) lamellar phases with these binary non-phospholipid mixtures. The characterization of alkyl chain dynamics of PA in these systems revealed the large ordering effect of the sterols. It was possible to extrude these systems, using standard extrusion techniques, to form large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs), except in the case of ergosterol-containing mixture. The resulting LUVs displayed a very limited passive permeability consistent with the high sterol concentration. In addition, the stability of these PA/sterol self-assembled bilayers was also found to be pH-sensitive, therefore, potentially useful as nanovectors. By examining different sterols, we could establish some correlations between the structure of these bilayers and their permeability properties. The structure of the side chain at C17 of the sterol appears to play a prime role in the mixing properties with fatty acid.

Efficient in vitro gene therapy with PEG siRNA lipid nanocapsules for passive targeting strategy in melanoma

Small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated gene therapy is a promising strategy to temporarily inhibit the expression of proteins implicated in carcinogenesis or chemotherapy resistance. Although intra-tumoral administration can be envisaged, studies currently focus on formulating nanomedicines for intravenous injection to target tumor sites as well as metastases. The development of synthetic nanoparticles and liposomes has advanced greatly during the last decade. The objective of this work consists in formulating and optimizing the encapsulation of siRNA into lipid nanocapsules (LNCs) for efficient gene therapy to target melanoma cells. SiRNA LNCs were prepared from DOTAP/DOPE lipoplexes, and the siRNA amount and lipid/siRNA charge ratio were assayed to improve the stability and the encapsulation yield. Cryo-TEM imaging of the siRNA lipoplexes and LNC morphology revealed specific organization of the siRNA DOTAP/DOPE lipoplexes as well as specific lipid microstructures that can be eliminated by purification. No cytotoxicity of the siRNA LNCs against the melanoma SK-Mel28 cell line was observed at concentrations of up to 500 ng/mL siRNA. In vitro siRNA transfection experiments, compared to Oligofectamine™, demonstrated interesting targeted gene silencing effects. Finally, complement activation assays confirmed the feasibility of the PEGylation of siRNA LNCs as part of a passive targeting strategy for future in vivo melanoma- and metastasis-targeting experiments.

Perfluorocarbon-loaded lipid nanocapsules as oxygen sensors for tumor tissue pO2 assessment

The assessment of tumor oxygenation is a crucial factor in cancer therapy and may be carried out using fluorine MRI once fluorine probes have been distributed within the tumor. However, the deposit of those highly fluorinated compounds often jeopardizes anatomical image quality and requires emulsification of the probes. Due to the high density and the high lipophilicity of perfluorocarbons, nanoemulsion of these molecules usually requires high-energy processes. In the present work, we discuss the synthesis and the physico-chemical characterization of perfluorocarbon nanocapsules using a low-energy phase-inversion process. The nanocapsules were tested on a mouse tumor brain model to assess oxygenation.