Interactions of NIPAM nanogels with model lipid multi-bilayers: A neutron reflectivity study

Abstract

In dermal drug delivery, the influence of the chemical structure of the carriers on their penetration mechanisms is not yet fully understood. This is a key requirement in order to design highly efficient delivery systems. In this study, neutron reflectivity is used to provide insights into the interactions between thermoresponsive N-isopropylacrylamide based nanogels, cross-linked with 10%, 20% and 30% N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide, and skin lipid multi-bilayers models. Ceramide lipid multi-bilayers and ceramide/cholesterol/behenic acid mixed lipid multi-bilayers were used for this work. The results indicated that in both multi-bilayers the lipids were depleted by the nanogels mainly through hydrophobic interactions. The ability of nanogels to associate with skin lipids to form water-dispersible complexes was found to be a function of the percentage cross-linker. An enhanced depletion of lipids was further observed in the presence of benzyl alcohol, a well-known skin penetration enhancer.

Covalently Crosslinked Nanogels: An NMR Study of the Effect of Monomer Reactivity on Composition and Structure

“…Our group has been interested in NIPAM-based nanogels prepared by HDRP for a diverse range of applications, from drug delivery vehicles to sensors, due to their high solubility, colloidal stability, and biocompatibility [25], together with thermoresponsive properties [6,26,27,28]. Recently, we investigated the morphological changes resulting from variations in chemical structure of functional monomers and crosslinker content in a library of NIPAM and other acrylamide-based nanogels [6].…”

Impact of Protein Corona Formation on the Thermoresponsive Behavior of Acrylamide-Based Nanogels

“…We previously reported the development of thermoresponsive nanogels as drug delivery vectors, demonstrating the role of chemical composition and synthetic methodologies on their thermoresponsive behavior, both in buffer solutions and at the air/water interface. , Additionally, our studies on the environmental exposure of nanogels to zebrafish larvae showed the high toxicity of positively charged formulations of N -isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM)-based nanogels, which prompted us to focus on negatively charged nanogels for this study.…”

Adsorption of soft NIPAM nanogels at hydrophobic and hydrophilic interfaces: Conformation of the interfacial layers determined by neutron reflectivity

“…We demonstrated that the degree of crosslinking (between 10% and 30%) has a profound effect not only on bulk morphology of a nanogel solution but also on adsorption kinetics, steady state adsorbed amount and resulting interfacial structures. The interactions and transport of nanogels across lipid (ceramide) monolayers [56] and multilayers [57] have also been investigated by our group, contributing to the understanding of the relationship between nanogels' structural features and interfacial behavior.…”