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Curcumin (CM) has multiple pharmacological activities including anti-fungal activity, but its clinical application is limited due to low solubility in aqueous media, poor bioavailability and extensive first pass metabolism. We aimed to resolve the limitation and enhance antifungal activity of CM using nanotechnology. Using silk fibroin (SF) as a carrier, we fabricated curcumin-silk fibroin nanoparticles (CM-SF NPs) by solution enhanced dispersion of supercritical CO₂ (SEDS) technique. The characterization of CM-SF NPs was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and thermo gravimetric apparatus (TGA). Following characterization of the NPs, we evaluated the antifungal activity of CM-SF NPs against Candida albicans in vitro and in vivo. A SF-based drug delivery system (CM-SF NPs, 85 ± 15 nm) was established by SEDS. Compared to original CM, water solubility of CM-SF NPs was improved, and its antifungal activity was enhanced. The natural compound-loaded SF nanoparticles may be a promising therapeutic candidate for fungal infection.

Exosomes could serve as delivery platforms, owing to their good biocompatibility, stability, and long blood circulation time. Tracking the biological fate of exosomes in vivo is essential for evaluating their functions, delivery efficacy, and biosafety, and it is invaluable for guiding exosome-based therapy. Here, we merged a single-cell technique, mass cytometry, with in vivo uptake analysis to comprehensively reveal the fate of exosomes at the single-cell level. In tandem with multivariate cellular phenotyping, in vivo uptake of exosomes labeled with heavy metal-containing tags was quantified in a high-throughput manner. Interestingly, an organ-dependent uptake landscape of exosomes by diverse cell types was distinctly demonstrated, which implied that cancer cells seemed to preferably take up more released drugs from the exosomes. Using these cellular insights, the administration method of drug-loaded exosomes was optimized to elevate their accumulation in tumor sites and minimize their spread into healthy organs. Dual drug-loaded exosomes were locally administered and superior synergistic tumor treatment effects were achieved in a solid tumor model. The disclosure of exosome cellular distribution, together with the successful engineering of exosomes with multiple anticancer capacities, provides a new level of insight into optimizing and enhancing exosome-based drug delivery and synergistic tumor therapy.

Nanometer-sized exosomes are being widely studied as cell-to-cell communicators and versatile drug vehicles. Characterizations of the biodistribution of these exosomes are essential for the evaluation of their biological functions and drug delivery efficacy. However, current technologies for exosome tracking rely on fluorescence and have the disadvantages of being low throughput due to the limited number of available channels and spectral spillover. Here, we reported the development of an engineering approach that involves loading of metal isotope-containing intercalators into exosomes to quantify exosome uptake at the single-cell level. We demonstrate that mass cytometry in conjunction with highly multivariate cellular phenotyping enables high-throughput identification of the in vivo fate of exosomes. Inspired by these insights into cellular distribution, we optimized the administration methods for exosome-based drug delivery, verifying the anticancer efficacy of these exosomes in a mouse model of breast cancer. The evaluation of exosome's fate in vivo at the single-cell level provides valuable insights into the functions of exosomes in vivo and facilitates the improvement of exosome-based therapy.

Microneedles (MNs) as a minimally invasive tool have drawn increasing attention recently. They possess many prominent advantages, including pain-free, self-administration, and ease-of-disposal, when compared to the traditional administration tools. This review summarizes the latest developments of the MN technology and focuses on the advanced applications in stimuli-responsive drug delivery, disease theranostics, and bioinspired functions. Starting from a brief overview of different types of MNs based on their structures and materials, we then detail the fabrication strategies, including hot embossing, micro-molding, thermal-drawing lithography, magnetorheological lithography, laser-drilling, and the emerging 3D printing techniques. Later, the recent biomedical applications of these MNs are highlighted, including stimuli-responsive drug release for disease therapy, biosensing for disease diagnosis, and bioinspired applications.

A silk fibroin (SF)-derived nanofibrous drug delivery system was fabricated by solution-enhanced dispersion via supercritical CO 2 (SEDS) (20 MPa pressure, 8 mL/min flow rate, 35 °C temperature) in this study. Curcumin (CM) was used as a water-insoluble drug model. Nanofibrous structure with controllable fiber diameter (

A silk fibroin-based drug delivery system was fabricated in supercritical CO2 (20 MPa pressure, 1:2 curcumin:silk fibroin ratio, 1% final concentration) to improve the solubility of curcumin. The effects of various parameters, including pressure, curcumin:silk fibroin ratio, and final concentration, on particle size, size distribution, drug loading, and encapsulation efficiency, were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy results showed that the particles had spherical shapes with controllable particle size

Silk fibroin (SF) is a protein-based biomacromolecule with excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability and low immunogenicity. The development of SF-based nanoparticles for drug delivery have received considerable attention due to high binding capacity for various drugs, controlled drug release properties and mild preparation conditions. By adjusting the particle size, the chemical structure and properties, the modified or recombinant SF-based nanoparticles can be designed to improve the therapeutic efficiency of drugs encapsulated into these nanoparticles. Therefore, they can be used to deliver small molecule drugs (e.g., anti-cancer drugs), protein and growth factor drugs, gene drugs, etc. This paper reviews recent progress on SF-based nanoparticles, including chemical structure, properties, and preparation methods. In addition, the applications of SF-based nanoparticles as carriers for therapeutic drugs are also reviewed.

A novel magnetic targeting anti-tumor drug delivery system was constructed with bacterial magnetosomes (BMs) from Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1, which have natural magnetic iron oxide and enveloped by natural lipid bi-membrane. Methotrexate (MTX) was loaded on the BMs membrane using genipin (GP). The average particle size was 44.4±1.5 nm and this system showed high drug loading (43.3–49.6%), high encapsulation efficiency (76.5–98%), and long-term release behaviors (over two months) without initial burst release to low molecule drug MTX. The method was simple but very efficient, and the results indicated that the new carrier exhibited a great potential for application in drug delivery with excellent performances for long-term release.

The development of more effective cancer therapeutic strategies are still critically required. The maximization of the therapeutic effect in combination with avoiding the severe side effects on normal tissues when using chemotherapy drugs is still an urgent problem that requires improvements urgently. Here we provide implantable and controllable drug-release that utilises silk fibroin (SF) as a nanofibrous drug delivery system (DDS) for cancer treatment. A nanofibrous structure with controllable fibre diameter (5 μg/mL. The mechanism could be explained by the cell cycle being held in the S phase. The toxic effect on normal cells (NCM460) was minimized by using a treatment concentration range (5–20 μg/mL). Implantation of this DDS into the tumour site inhibited the growth of solid tumour; this offers an alternative approach for novel cancer therapy.

The strategy to construct a novel drug delivery system of nanoparticle embedded microcapsules (NEMs) is reported in this work. The Chitosan/Alginate Nanoparticle Embedded Microcapsules (CS/Alg NEMs) have been successfully prepared by emulsion-gelation and high-voltage electrostatic droplet generator. The drug release behavior in vitro of the NEMs was studied, using Capecitabine (CAP) and γ-globulin as model drugs. The results demonstrated that the NEMs could control the drugs' release rate significantly, whether it is a small-molecular drug or peptide and protein. Also, the results indicated that the co-loading drugs exhibited an orderly release property. The NEMs exhibited a great potential for application in drug delivery for multi-functions and sustained release.

To ease the side effects triggered by cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) for acute leukemia treatment, a novel magnetic targeting anti-tumor drug delivery system was constructed through bacterial magnetosomes (BMs) from Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1 combined with Ara-C by crosslinking of genipin (GP). The results showed that Ara-C could be bonded onto the membrane surface of BMs effectively through chemical crosslinking induced by dual hand reagents GP. The average diameters of BMs and Ara-C-coupled BMs (ABMs) were 42.0 ± 8.6 and 72.7 ± 6.0 nm respectively, and the zeta potentials (−38.1 ± 9.1) revealed that these systems were stable, confirming the stability of the system. The optimal encapsulation efficiency and drug loading were 89.05% ± 2.33% and 47.05% ± 0.64% respectively when crosslinking reaction lasted for 72 h. The system also presented long-term stability and release behaviors without initial burst release (Ara-C could be released 80% within three months). Our results indicate that BMs have great potential in biomedical and clinical fields as a novel anti-tumor drug carrier.