The Last One Mile in Drug Development
Liver fibrosis is a great threat to human health that leads to millions of deaths annually worldwide, and hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) have been regarded as the main executors of liver fibrosis. Unfortunately, no available drugs for the clinical treatment of liver fibrosis has been approved as the tested drugs were not able to access HSCs […]
mRNA vaccines are a transformative solution in vaccine technology that lead to transient antigen expression. Such instant expression is often desirable due to its minimal risk of genetic transformation. However, it affects the efficacy of mRNA and requires a higher dose. To address the issue, researchers have attempted to augment mRNA to include genetic elements […]
Liver fibrosis refers to the excessive accumulation of hepatic collagen, it is produced by activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Currently, there is no effective drugs available for the clinical treatment of liver fibrosis, which means antifibrotic drugs cannot specifically target activated HSCs. A recent study reported the synthesis and evaluation of poly (lactide-co-glycolide)-polyspermine-poly (ethylene glycol)-vitamin […]
Diabetes is a threat to health of many people around the world. As males are vulnerable to insulin resistance, diabetes is likely to affect the males at a higher rate than the females. In addition, males have a lower body fat percentage than females indicating that insulin resistance is more closely related to body fat […]
Polysaccharide-based polymers, such as pSar, and cationic surfactants, such as DOTMA, are increasingly used in the development of drug delivery systems. pSar is a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer which can be used to protect drugs and other molecules from degradation and increase their solubility by encapsulation, while DOTMA, a cationic surfactant, is used to increase […]
As important biological lipids, sphingolipids play a variety of roles in cellular processes, including their being the key components in structural membranes. Ceramides, a subfamily of sphingolipids with unique biophysical properties, have attracted much attentions from researchers due to their important roles as second messengers in signal transduction processes. Most of the biophysical researches surrounding the effect of […]
Currently, the clinical re-connection of the transected nerve mainly relies on surgery suture which is a time consuming procedure that requires thorough training. A recent study revealed an octa-polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based adhesive for fast re-connection of the transected peripheral nerve. In order to improve the therapeutic efficacy, a uccinyl unit is used to enhance the […]
Cardiolipin (CL), a vital phospholipid to mitochondrial bioenergetics, the abnormal compositions of which is associated with several human diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, and Barth Syndrome (BTHS). Uniquely dependent on CL composition, BTHS is regarded as the only disease caused by altered CL remodeling. The characteristics of BTHS are dilated cardiomyopathy, skeletal myopathy, […]
In order to achieve multi-chemotherapeutic drugs delivery and combination cancer therapy, the research team designed the acid-labile methotrexate (MTX) targeting pro-drug self-assembling nanoparticles loaded with curcumin (CUR) drug. As an anticancer drug and also a tumor-targeting ligand, the dual-acting MTX was connected to 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[aldehyde(polyethylene glycol)-2000] through Schiff’s base reaction. The synthesized pro-drug conjugate DSPE-PEG-Imine-MTX can be self-assembled into micellar nanoparticles MTX-Imine-M in […]
Cell membranes play an important role in the protection of cell components from the influence of extracellular environment and the controlling of the substances which go in and out of the cells. Certain substances are allowed to go in and out of the cell by the cell membranes through active or passive permeation. Active permeation […]
