Microfluidics Formulated Liposomes of Hypoxia Activated Prodrug for Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) presents as an unmet clinical challenge for drug delivery due to its unique hypoxic biology. Vinblastine-N-Oxide (CPD100) is a hypoxia-activated prodrug (HAP) that selectively converts to its parent compound, vinblastine, a potent cytotoxic agent, under oxygen gradient. The study evaluates the efficacy of microfluidics formulated liposomal CPD100 (CPD100Li) in PDAC. CPD100Li were formulated with a size of 95 nm and a polydispersity index of 0.2. CPD100Li was stable for a period of 18 months when freeze-dried at a concentration of 3.55 mg/mL. CPD100 and CPD100Li confirmed selective activation at low oxygen levels in pancreatic cancer cell lines. Moreover, in 3D spheroids, CPD100Li displayed higher penetration and disruption compared to CPD100. In patient-derived 3D organoids, CPD100Li exhibited higher cell inhibition in the organoids that displayed higher expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF1A) compared to CPD100. In the orthotopic model, the combination of CPD100Li with gemcitabine (GEM) (standard of care for PDAC) showed higher efficacy than CPD100Li alone for a period of 90 days. In summary, the evaluation of CPD100Li in multiple cellular models provides a strong foundation for its clinical application in PDAC.

Effect of digestion on stability of palivizumab IgG1 in the infant gastrointestinal tract.

BACKGROUND: Potentially, orally administered antibodies specific to enteric pathogens could be administered to infants to prevent diarrheal infections, particularly in developing countries where diarrhea is a major problem. However, to prevent infection, such antibodies would need to resist degradation within the gastrointestinal tract. METHODS: Palivizumab, a recombinant antibody specific to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), was used in this study as a model for examining the digestion of neutralizing antibodies to enteric pathogens in infants. The survival of this recombinant IgG1 across digestion in 11 infants was assayed via an anti-idiotype ELISA and RSV F protein-specific ELISA. Concentrations were controlled for any dilution or concentration that occurred in the digestive system using mass spectrometry-based quantification of co-administered, orally supplemented, indigestible polyethylene glycol (PEG-28). RESULTS: Binding activity of Palivizumab IgG1 decreased (26-99%) across each phase of in vivo digestion as measured by both anti-idiotype and RSV F protein-specific ELISAs. CONCLUSION: Antibodies generated for passive protection of the infant gastrointestinal tract from pathogens will need to be more resistant to digestion than the model antibody fed to infants in this study, or provided in higher doses to be most effective. IMPACT: Binding activity of palivizumab IgG1 decreased (26-99%) across each phase of in vivo infant digestion as measured by both anti-idiotype and RSV F protein-specific ELISAs. Palivizumab was likely degraded by proteases and changes in pH introduced in the gut. Antibodies generated for passive protection of the infant gastrointestinal tract from pathogens will need to be more resistant to digestion than the model antibody fed to infants in this study, or provided in higher doses to be most effective. The monoclonal antibody IgG1 tested was not stable across the infant gastrointestinal tract. The observation of palivizumab reduction was unlikely due to dilution in the gastrointestinal tract. The results of this work hint that provision of antibody could be effective in preventing enteric pathogen infection in infants. Orally delivered recombinant antibodies will need to either be dosed at high levels to compensate for digestive losses or be engineered to better resist digestion. Provision of enteric pathogen-specific recombinant antibodies to at-risk infants could provide a new and previously unexplored pathway to reducing the infection in infants. The strategy of enteric recombinant antibodies deserves more investigation throughout medicine as a novel means for treatment of enteric disease targets.

Partial Degradation of Recombinant Antibody Functional Activity During Infant Gastrointestinal Digestion: Implications for Oral Antibody Supplementation.

Oral administration of engineered immunoglobulins has the potential to prevent enteric pathogen-induced diarrhea in infants. To prevent infection, these antibodies need to survive functionally intact in the proteolytic environment of the gastrointestinal tract. This research examined both ex vivo and in vivo the functional survival across infant digestion of palivizumab, a model FDA-approved recombinant antibody against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) F protein. Palivizumab-fortified feed (formula or human milk), infant gastric, and intestinal samples were incubated to simulate in vivo digestion (ex vivo digestion). Palivizumab-fortified human milk was also fed to infants, followed by collection of gastric and intestinal samples (in vivo digestion). Palivizumab was purified from the samples of digestate using protein G spin columns followed by filtration through molecular weight cut-off membranes (30 kDa). Palivizumab functional survival across ex vivo and in vivo digestion was determined via an anti-idiotype ELISA and an RSV plaque reduction neutralization test. Palivizumab concentration and RSV neutralization capacity both decreased when incubated in intestinal samples (ex vivo study). The concentration and neutralization activity of orally-supplemented palivizumab also decreased across infant digestion (in vivo study). These results indicate that if recombinant IgGs were selected for oral supplementation to prevent enteric infections, appropriate dosing would need to account for degradation occurring in the digestive system. Other antibody formats, structural changes, or encapsulation could enhance survival in the infant gastrointestinal tract.

Contact Tracing during Coronavirus Disease Outbreak, South Korea, 2020.

We analyzed reports for 59,073 contacts of 5,706 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) index patients reported in South Korea during January 20-March 27, 2020. Of 10,592 household contacts, 11.8% had COVID-19. Of 48,481 nonhousehold contacts, 1.9% had COVID-19. Use of personal protective measures and social distancing reduces the likelihood of transmission.

Liposomes produced by microfluidics and extrusion: A comparison for scale-up purposes.

Successful liposomal formulations in the clinic are severely limited due to poor translational capability of the traditional bench techniques to clinical production settings. The gold standard for liposome bench manufacturing is a multi-step and parameter dependent extrusion method. Moreover, these parameters need re-optimization for clinical production. The microfluidics technique utilizes vigorous mixing of fluids at a nanoliter scale to produce liposomes in batches from milliliters to a couple liters. The fine control of process parameters results in improved reproducibility between batches. It is inherently scalable; however, the characteristics of liposomes produced by microfluidics both in vitro and in vivo have never been compared to those produced using extrusion. In this manuscript, we describe the comparison between the traditional extrusion method to microfluidics, the new paradigm in liposome production and scale-up.

Liposomal formulation of hypoxia activated prodrug for the treatment of ovarian cancer.

In this work, a new sphingomyelin-cholesterol liposomal formulation (CPD100Li) for the delivery of a hypoxia activated prodrug of vinblastine, mon-N-oxide (CPD100), is developed. The optimized liposomal formulation uses an ionophore (A23187) mediated pH-gradient method. Optimized CPD100Li is characterized for size, drug loading, and stability. The in vitro toxicity of CPD100Li is assessed on different aspects of cell proliferation and apoptosis of ES2 ovarian cancer under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. The pharmacokinetics of CPD100Li in mice as well as the influence of A23187 on the retention of CPD100 are assessed. The dose limiting toxicity (DLT) and maximum tolerated dose (MTD) for CPD100Li are evaluated in nude mice. CPD100 is loaded in the liposome at 5.5 mg/mL. The sizes of CPD100Li using DLS, qNano and cryo-TEM techniques are 155.4 ±â€¯4.2 nm, 132 nm, and 112.6 ±â€¯19.8 nm, respectively. There is no difference between the in vitro characterization of CPD100Li with and without ionophore. Freshly prepared CPD100Li with ionophore are stable for 48 h at 4 °C, while the freeze-dried formulation is stable for 3 months under argon at 4 °C. The hypoxic cytotoxicity ratios (HCR) of CPD100 and CPD100Li are 0.16 and 0.11, respectively. CPD100Li under hypoxic conditions has a 9.2-fold lower IC50 value as compared to CPD100Li under normoxic conditions, confirming the hypoxia dependent activation of CPD100. CPD100Li treated ES2 cells show a time dependent enhanced cell death, along with caspase production and an increase in the number of cells in G0/G1 and higher cell arrest. The blood concentration profile of CPD100Li in mice without A23187 has a 12.6-fold lower area under the curve (AUC) and 1.6-fold lower circulation time compared to the CPD100Li with A23187. The DLT for both CPD100 and CPD100Li is 45 mg/kg and the MTD is 40 mg/kg in nude mice. Based on the preliminary data obtained, we clearly show that the presence of ionophore affects the in vivo stability of CPD100. CPD100Li presents a unique opportunity to develop a first-in-kind chemotherapy product based on achieving selective drug activation through the hypoxic physiologic microenvironment of solid tumors.