MRI contrast agent delivery using spore capsules: controlled release in blood plasma

Lorch, Mark; Thomasson, Matthew J.; Diego‐Taboada, Alberto; Barrier, Sylvain; Atkin, Stephen L.; Mackenzie, Grahame; Archibald, Stephen J.

doi:10.1039/b909551a

Cited by 54 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…[30][31][32] Most conventional techniques used for encapsulation such as emulsion solvent evaporation, spray drying, and chemical conjugation fail to reliably provide either size monodispersity or well-defi ned microstructures. [ 26,27,[30][31][32] Although several studies have reported the use of empty exine microcapsules for the encapsulation of drugs, vaccines, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents, as well as for use in cosmetics and food supplements, [ 7,[16][17][18]22 ] the use of the natural "spores" as a microencapsulation material and delivery vehicle still remains unexplored. In this regard, we have directed our efforts toward exploring systems to produce macromoleculeloaded spores using three different microencapsulation techniques.…”

Section: Doi: 101002/adfm201502322mentioning

confidence: 99%

Lycopodium Spores: A Naturally Manufactured, Superrobust Biomaterial for Drug Delivery

Mundargi

Potroz

Park

et al. 2015

Adv Funct Materials

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Herein, the exploration of natural plant‐based “spores” for the encapsulation of macromolecules as a drug delivery platform is reported. Benefits of encapsulation with natural “spores” include highly uniform size distribution and materials encapsulation by relatively economical and simple versatile methods. The natural spores possess unique micromeritic properties and an inner cavity for significant macromolecule loading with retention of therapeutic spore constituents. In addition, these natural spores can be used as advanced materials to encapsulate a wide variety of pharmaceutical drugs, chemicals, cosmetics, and food supplements. Here, for the first time a strategy to utilize natural spores as advanced materials is developed to encapsulate macromolecules by three different microencapsulation techniques including passive, compression, and vacuum loading. The natural spore formulations developed by these techniques are extensively characterized with respect to size uniformity, shape, encapsulation efficiency, and localization of macromolecules in the spores. In vitro release profiles of developed spore formulations in simulated gastric and intestinal fluids have also been studied, and alginate coatings to tune the release profile using vacuum‐loaded spores have been explored. These results provide the basis for further exploration into the encapsulation of a wide range of therapeutic molecules in natural plant spores.

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Section: Doi: 101002/adfm201502322mentioning

confidence: 99%

Lycopodium Spores: A Naturally Manufactured, Superrobust Biomaterial for Drug Delivery

Mundargi

Potroz

Park

et al. 2015

Adv Funct Materials

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“…Thus overall, we hypothesized that if (i) natural pores in the pollen wall could be used to clean and remove the allergy-causing native biomolecules from PGs, (ii) their clean ‘belly’ could be refilled with vaccine antigens through the natural pores in pollen walls, and (iii) the antigen-filled PGs could translocate across the intestinal epithelium into the body, then PGs might behave as natural ‘Trojan horses’ for oral vaccination ferrying the vaccines safely into the body. While LSs can survive the harsh acidic treatment, it has been suggested that enzymes in the body can degrade them [18, 19], thus providing a potentially safe natural carrier for oral vaccine and drug delivery. Indeed, using this conceptual framework LSs have recently been proposed for oral drug delivery.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, using this conceptual framework LSs have recently been proposed for oral drug delivery. It has been shown that proteins as large as 540 kDa, a magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent, food oils including cod liver oil can be filled into LSs [19-23]. While these in vitro studies demonstrate the flexibility of filling LSs with different molecules, in vivo demonstrations on the effectiveness of pollens for oral drug and vaccine delivery are lacking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pollen grains for oral vaccination

Atwe¹,

Ma²,

Gill³

2014

Journal of Controlled Release

147

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Oral vaccination can offer a painless and convenient method of vaccination. Furthermore, in addition to systemic immunity it has potential to stimulate mucosal immunity through antigen-processing by the gut-associated lymphoid tissues. In this study we propose the concept that pollen grains can be engineered for use as a simple modular system for oral vaccination. We demonstrate feasibility of this concept by using spores of Lycopodium clavatum (clubmoss) (LSs). We show that LSs can be chemically cleaned to remove native proteins to create intact clean hollow LS shells. Empty pollen shells were successfully filled with molecules of different sizes demonstrating their potential to be broadly applicable as a vaccination system. Using ovalbumin (OVA) as a model antigen, LSs formulated with OVA were orally fed to mice. LSs stimulated significantly higher anti-OVA serum IgG and fecal IgA antibodies compared to those induced by use of cholera toxin as a positive-control adjuvant. The antibody response was not affected by pre-neutralization of the stomach acid, and persisted for up to seven months. Confocal microscopy revealed that LSs can translocate in to mouse intestinal wall. Overall, this study lays the foundation of using LSs as a novel approach for oral vaccination.

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“…In order to address possible issues of biocompatibility and allergenicity, a protein-free microcapsule derivative known as a sporopollenin exine capsule (SEC) was developed through an extraction process that leaves only the hollow sporopollenin exine layer, which itself functions as a microcapsule and can be utilized for encapsulation applications151819202122. As a microcapsule, SECs have demonstrated great versatility for applications such as bioimaging23, taste masking19, and even cell seeding scaffolds20.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Inflated Sporopollenin Exine Capsules Obtained from Thin-Walled Pollen

Park

Seo

Jackman

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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Sporopollenin is a physically robust and chemically resilient biopolymer that comprises the outermost layer of pollen walls and is the first line of defense against harsh environmental conditions. The unique physicochemical properties of sporopollenin increasingly motivate the extraction of sporopollenin exine capsules (SECs) from pollen walls as a renewable source of organic microcapsules for encapsulation applications. Despite the wide range of different pollen species with varying sizes and wall thicknesses, faithful extraction of pollen-mimetic SECs has been limited to thick-walled pollen capsules with rigid mechanical properties. There is an unmet need to develop methods for producing SECs from thin-walled pollen capsules which constitute a large fraction of all pollen species and have attractive materials properties such as greater aerosol dispersion. Herein, we report the first successful extraction of inflated SEC microcapsules from a thin-walled pollen species (Zea mays), thereby overcoming traditional challenges with mechanical stability and loss of microstructure. Morphological and compositional characterization of the SECs obtained by the newly developed extraction protocol confirms successful protein removal along with preservation of nanoscale architectural features. Looking forward, there is excellent potential to apply similar strategies across a wide range of unexplored thin-walled pollen species.

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MRI contrast agent delivery using spore capsules: controlled release in blood plasma

Cited by 54 publications

References 14 publications

Lycopodium Spores: A Naturally Manufactured, Superrobust Biomaterial for Drug Delivery

Lycopodium Spores: A Naturally Manufactured, Superrobust Biomaterial for Drug Delivery

Pollen grains for oral vaccination

Inflated Sporopollenin Exine Capsules Obtained from Thin-Walled Pollen

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