(2012) Investigation on design of stable etoposide-loaded PEG-PCL micelles: effect of molecular weight of PEG-PCL diblock copolymer on the invitro and invivo performance of micelles, Drug Delivery, 19:3,[155][156][157][158][159][160][161][162][163][164][165][166][167]

The treatment of genetic diseases using therapeutic gene transfer is considered to be a significant development. This development has brought with it certain limitations, and the process of overcoming these barriers has seen a drastic change in gene delivery. Many metal ions such as Mg2+, Mn2+, Ba2+ and, most importantly, Ca2+ have been demonstrated to have significant roles in gene delivery. Recently, calcium phosphate alone, or in combination with viral and nonviral vectors, was found to exert a positive effect on gene transfer when incorporated in the colloidal particulate system, which is an advancing approach to gene delivery. This review elaborates on various successful methods of using calcium in gene delivery.

Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) of Paclitaxel were prepared by modified Hot homogenization method using Glyceryl monostearate (GMS). The SLNs were characterized for its physicochemical characteristics such as mean particle size, percentage entrapment efficiency and zeta potential, which were found to be 226 nm, 92.43% and -29.4 mV, respectively. The Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) studies showed that prepared SLNs were of spherical shape. The drug retarding efficiency of the lipid (GMS) was better in pH 7.4 compared to pH 3.5. The release profile showed a tendency to follow Higuchi diffusion pattern at pH 7.4 and Peppas-Korsenmeyer model at pH 3.5. Chemosensitivity assay carried out using B16F10 cell lines showed that anti-proliferative activity of Paclitaxel was not hindered due to encapsulation.

A series of copolymeric nanoparticles of the partially water-soluble monomer ethyl methacrylate and the water-soluble monomer 2-hydroxyl ethyl methacrylate were synthesized from emulsions containing sodium dodecyl sulfate via free-radical polymerization. Lamotrigine, as a model drug, was loaded in nanoparticles during in situ polymerization. A stable and transparent poly(ethyl methacrylate-co-hydroxyl ethyl methacrylate) nanolatex was produced for all compositions and characterized for particle size by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. Particles were found to be smaller than 50 nm in size. Structural characterization of copolymers was done by infrared spectrometry, gel permeation chromatography, and NMR spectroscopy. Drug encapsulation efficiency was determined by ultraviolet (UV)-visible spectrometry and was found to be 26-62% for copolymers with different compositions. UV data suggest molecularlevel dispersion of the drug in the nanoparticles. In vitro drug-release studies showed the controlled release of lamotrigine.