Manuel Alatorre-Meda

Physicochemical characteristics of protein-NP bioconjugates: the role of particle curvature and solution conditions on human serum albumin conformation and fibrillogenesis inhibition.

Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) from 5 to 100 nm in size synthesized with HAuCl(4) and sodium citrate were complexed with the plasma protein human serum albumin (HSA). Size, surface charge, and surface plasmon bands of the Au NPs are largely modified by the formation of a protein corona via electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding as revealed by thermodynamic data. Negative values of the entropy of binding suggested a restriction in the biomolecule mobility upon adsorption. The structure of the adsorbed protein molecules is slightly affected by the interaction with the metal surface, but this effect is enhanced as the NP curvature decreases. Also, it is observed that the protein molecules adsorbed onto the NP surface are more resistant to complete thermal denaturation than free protein ones as deduced from the increases in the melting temperature of the adsorbed protein. Differences in the conformations of the adsorbed protein molecules onto small (<40 nm) and large NPs were observed on the basis of ζ-potential data and FTIR spectroscopy, also suggesting a better resistance of adsorbed protein molecules to thermal denaturing conditions. We think this enhanced protein stability is responsible for a reduced formation of HSA amyloid-like fibrils in the presence of small Au NPs under HSA fibrillation conditions.

Fluorescent drug-loaded, polymeric-based, branched gold nanoshells for localized multimodal therapy and imaging of tumoral cells.

Here we report the synthesis of PLGA/DOXO-core Au-branched shell nanostructures (BGNSHs) functionalized with a human serum albumin/indocyanine green/folic acid complex (HSA-ICG-FA) to configure a multifunctional nanotheranostic platform. First, branched gold nanoshells (BGNSHs) were obtained through a seeded-growth surfactant-less method. These BGNSHs were loaded during the synthetic process with the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin, a DNA intercalating agent and topoisomerase II inhibitior. In parallel, the fluorescent near-infrared (NIR) dye indocyanine green (ICG) was conjugated to the protein human serum albumin (HSA) by electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions. Subsequently, folic acid was covalently attached to the HSA-ICG complex. In this way, we created a protein complex with targeting specificity and fluorescent imaging capability. The resulting HSA-ICG-FA complex was adsorbed to the gold nanostructures surface (BGNSH-HSA-ICG-FA) in a straightforward incubation process thanks to the high affinity of HSA to gold surface. In this manner, BGNSH-HSA-ICG-FA platforms were featured with multifunctional abilities: the possibility of fluorescence imaging for diagnosis and therapy monitoring by exploiting the inherent fluorescence of the dye, and a multimodal therapy approach consisting of the simultaneous combination of chemotherapy, provided by the loaded drug, and the potential cytotoxic effect of photodynamic and photothermal therapies provided by the dye and the gold nanolayer of the hybrid structure, respectively, upon NIR light irradiation of suitable wavelength. The combination of this trimodal approach was observed to exert a synergistic effect on the cytotoxicity of tumoral cells in vitro. Furthermore, FA was proved to enhance the internalization of nanoplatform. The ability of the nanoplatforms as fluorescence imaging contrast agents was tested by preliminary analyzing their biodistribution in vivo in a tumor-bearing mice model.

Chitosan–hyaluronic acid nanoparticles for gene silencing: The role of hyaluronic acid on the nanoparticles’ formation and activity

Hyaluronic acid (HA) has been described as a biocompatibility enhancer for gene delivery systems; however, the mechanistic implications of its inclusion on the formation and activity of such systems and subsequent gene release are poorly understood. To better understand these issues, we describe herein the preparation and characterization of chitosan and chitosan-hyaluronic acid nanoparticles (CS and CS:HA NPs) for gene silencing. Different formulations were prepared by ionotropic gelation and evaluated for their physicochemical properties and biological activities in A549-Luc cells. Inclusion of HA to CS NPs resulted in a comparable silencing activity with Lipofectamine RNAiMAX (≈85% of luciferase knockdown) and significantly improved cell viability compared with CS NPs. As depicted by isothermal titration calorimetry, HA competed with siRNA for CS binding, lowering CS-siRNA binding strength by 25%. This suggests that besides improving cell biocompatibility of CS NPs, HA might also promote their gene release by loosening the CS-siRNA binding.

The influence of chitosan valence on the complexation and transfection of DNA: the weaker the DNA-chitosan binding the higher the transfection efficiency.

The DNA-chitosan polyplexes have attracted for some years now the attention of physical-chemists and biologists for their potential use in gene therapy, however, the correlation between the physicochemical properties of these polyplexes with their transfection efficiency remains still unclear. In a recent paper we demonstrated by means of DLS that the DNA-chitosan complexation is favored at acidic conditions considering that fewer amounts of chitosan were required to compact the DNA. As a second study, in the present work we analyze the influence of chitosan valence on the complexation and transfection of DNA. Three chitosans of different molecular weights (three different valences) are characterized as gene carriers at 25°C and pH 5 over a wide range of chitosan-Nitrogen to DNA-Phosphate molar ratios, N/P, by means of conductometry, electrophoretic mobility, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and β-galactosidase and luciferase expression assays.

DNA-Poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) Complexation and Transfection Efficiency

The present work assesses the influence of the cationic charge density (CD) and the cationic valence of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (pDADMAC) on the DNA compaction and subsequent transfection. Four homopolymers (CD = 1, with different valences) and one copolymer, poly(acrylamide-co-diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (coDADMAC) (CD < 1, equivalent in valence to one of the homopolymers), were studied. The characterization of the DNA-pDADMAC complexes (polyplexes) as a function of the polycation nitrogen to DNA phosphate molar ratios, N/P, was done by means of conductometry, electrophoretic mobility (zeta-potential), dynamic light scattering (DLS), isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and beta-galactosidase (ONPG) and luciferase expression assays at 25 degrees C and physiological pH. In general, all polyplexes rendered compact and stable structures (R(H) approximately 100 nm) with positive surface charges ( approximately 11 mV) but low transfection efficiencies. As revealed by ITC, the DNA-pDADMAC complexation was characterized by a high binding affinity, the process being entropically driven. In particular, two characteristic ratios ((N/P)c and (N/P)*) were detected. Conductometry and ITC data demonstrated that the DNA compaction ratio, (N/P)c, was mainly governed by CD. Meanwhile the ratio from which the polyplex size remained constant, (N/P)*, was found to be valence-dependent as revealed by DLS. On the other hand, the low transfer rate of the polyplexes appeared to be correlated with the high binding affinity observed throughout the complexation process and with a core-shell structure the complexes presumably adopt.

Hydration effects on the fibrillation process of a globular protein: the case of human serum albumin

In this work, we have studied the fibrillation process of human serum albumin (HSA) under different solution conditions. In particular, aggregation kinetics, fibril morphology, and composition structural changes were investigated under varying experimental conditions such as pH (2.0 and 7.4), temperature (at 25 and 65 °C), and solvent polarity (ethanol/water mixtures, 10–90% v/v). The characterization was carried out by means of static and dynamic light scattering (SLS and DLS), ThT fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The aggregation process and the α-helix to β-sheet transitions were found to be favored by temperature and physiological pH. Also, pH was observed to influence both the fibrillation pathway and aggregation kinetics, changing from a classical fibrillation process with a lag phase under acidic conditions to a downhill polymerization process at physiological pH in the presence of the alcohol. Regarding protein structural composition, at room temperature and physiological pH ethanol was found to promote an α-helix to β-sheet conformational transition at intermediate alcohol concentrations, whereas at low and high ethanol contents α-helix prevailed as the predominant structure. Under acidic conditions, ethanol promotes an important fibrillation at high cosolvent concentrations due to screening of electric charges and a decrease in solvent polarity. On the other hand, important differences in the morphology of the resulting fibrils and aggregates are observed depending on the solution conditions. In particular, the formation of classical amyloid-like fibrils at physiological pH and high temperature is observed, in contrast to the usual curly morphology displayed by HSA fibrils under most of the solution conditions. Although the high temperature and pH are the main parameters influencing the protein structure destabilization and subsequent aggregation upon incubation, ethanol helps to regulate the hydrogen bonding, the attractive hydrophobic interactions, and the protein accessible surface area, thus, modifying the packing constraints and the resulting aggregate morphologies.

Release of DNA from surfactant complexes induced by 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin.

Decompaction of DNA-CTA self-assembled complexes by 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (2-HP-beta-CD) was studied and the results were compared with beta-CD. Different degrees of 2-HP substitution (0.6, 0.8 and 1.0, respectively) were used and the decompaction was successful with all degrees of substitution. Fluorescence microscopy, steady state fluorescence spectroscopy, density and sound velocity measurements, thermal melting and circular dichroism were used. Compared to previous work using alpha- and beta-CD, the fluorescence spectroscopy results showed that the 2-HP-substituted CDs more efficiently released DNA into solution. Furthermore, dissociation of macroscopically phase separated DNA-CTA complexes was achieved upon addition of 2-HP-beta-CD and the results gave strong indications on the non-equilibrium nature of the system. The globule-to-coil transition was not found to proceed through a coexistence region, which seems to be a general phenomenon in DNA decompaction using CDs.

Biocompatible Polymeric Microparticles Produced by a Simple Biomimetic Approach

The use of superhydrophobic surfaces to produce polymeric particles proves to be biologically friendly since it entails the pipetting and subsequent cross-linking of polymeric solutions under mild experimental conditions. Moreover, it renders encapsulation efficiencies of ∼100%. However, the obtained particles are 1 to 2 mm in size, hindering to a large extent their application in clinical trials. Improving on this technique, we propose the fabrication of polymeric microparticles by spraying a hydrogel precursor over superhydrophobic surfaces followed by photo-cross-linking. The particles were produced from methacrylamide chitosan (MA-CH) and characterized in terms of their size and morphology. As demonstrated by optical and fluorescence microscopy, spraying followed by photo-cross-linking led, for the first time, to the production of spherical particles with diameters on the order of micrometers, nominal sizes not attainable by pipetting. Particles such as these are suitable for medical applications such as drug delivery and tissue engineering.

Superhydrophobic Surfaces as a Tool for the Fabrication of Hierarchical Spherical Polymeric Carriers

Hierarchical polymeric carriers with high encapsulation efficiencies are fabricated via a biocompatible strategy developed using superhydrophobic (SH) surfaces. The carries are obtained by the incorporation of cell/BSA-loaded dextran-methacrylate (DEXT-MA) microparticles into alginate (ALG) macroscopic beads. Engineered devices like these are expected to boost the development of innovative and customizable systems for biomedical and biotechnological purposes.

Micellisation of triblock copolymers of ethylene oxide and 1,2-butylene oxide: Effect of B-block length

We have used pyrene fluorescence spectroscopy and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) to investigate the effect of hydrophobic-block length on values of the critical micelle concentration (cmc) for aqueous solutions of triblock poly(butylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(butylene oxide) block copolymers (B(n)E(m)B(n), where m and n denote the respective block lengths) with hydrophobic block lengths in the range n=12-21. Combined with results from previous work on B(n)E(m)B(n) copolymers with shorter B blocks, plots of log(10)(cmc) (cmc in molar units and reduced to a common E-block length) against total number of B units (n(t)=n for diblock or n(t)=2n for triblock copolymers) display transitions in the slopes of the two plots, which indicate changes in the micellisation equilibrium. These occur at values of n(t)which can be assigned to the onset and completion of collapse of the hydrophobic B blocks, an effect not previously observed for reverse triblock copolymers. The results are compared with related data for diblock E(m)B(n) copolymers.