BEPO®: Bioresorbable diblock mPEG-PDLLA and triblock PDLLA-PEG-PDLLA based in situ forming depots with flexible drug delivery kinetics modulation.

This article presents BEPO®, an in situ forming depot (ISFD) technology mediated by a solvent-exchange mechanism. The matrix of the in situ formed drug delivery depot is composed of the combination of a diblock (DB) and a triblock (TB) polyethylene glycol-polyester copolymer. This combination offers a broad capability to tune the release of a wide variety of drugs to the desired pharmacokinetics. The work described in the present article demonstrates that the delivery rate and profile can be adjusted by changing the composition of either TB or DB or the relative ratio between them, among other parameters. It has been shown that the polymeric composition of the formulation has a substantial impact on the solvent exchange rate between the organic solvent and the surrounding aqueous medium which subsequently determines the internal structure of the resulting depot and the delivery of the therapeutic cargo. This has been demonstrated studying the in vitro release of two model molecules: bupivacaine and ivermectin. Formulations releasing these drugs have been administered to animal models to show the possibility of delivering therapeutics from weeks to months by using BEPO® technology.

Anti-PSMA/CD3 Bispecific Antibody Delivery and Antitumor Activity Using a Polymeric Depot Formulation.

Small therapeutic proteins represent a promising novel approach to treat cancer. Nevertheless, their clinical application is often adversely impacted by their short plasma half-life. Controlled long-term delivery of small biologicals has become a challenge because of their hydrophilic properties and in some cases their limited stability. Here, an in situ forming depot-injectable polymeric system was used to deliver BiJ591, a bispecific T-cell engager (BiTE) targeting both prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and the CD3 T-cell receptor in prostate cancer. BiJ591 induced T-cell activation, prostate cancer-directed cell lysis, and tumor growth inhibition. The use of diblock (DB) and triblock (TB) biodegradable polyethylene glycol-poly(lactic acid; PEG-PLA) copolymers solubilized in tripropionin, a small-chain triglyceride, allowed maintenance of BiJ591 stability and functionality in the formed depot and controlled its release. In mice, after a single subcutaneous injection, one of the polymeric candidates, TB1/DB4, provided the most sustained release of BiJ591 for up to 21 days. Moreover, the use of BiJ591-TB1/DB4 formulation in prostate cancer xenograft models showed significant therapeutic activity in both low and high PSMA-expressing tumors, whereas daily intravenous administration of BiJ591 was less efficient. Collectively, these data provide new insights into the development of controlled delivery of small therapeutic proteins in cancer. Mol Cancer Ther; 17(9); 1927-40. ©2018 AACR.

Non-adhesive behavior of new nanostructured PNIPAM surfaces towards specific neurodegenerative proteins: application to storage and titration of Tau proteins.

New nonfouling tubes are developed and their influence on the adhesion of neuroproteins is studied. The biomarkers are considered as single components (recombinant prion and Tau proteins) or in a solution of native and pathological forms. The samples are stored for 24 h at 4 °C in virgin and treated tubes layered with two different nanostructured coatings based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) with either a positive or a neutral charge, and the protein adhesion is monitored. The recombinant protein with a high pI is repelled from the nanostructured surface that has a negative ζ potential, whereas the recombinant protein with the lower pI is attracted. Furthermore, in the case of complex solutions, neutral nanostructured surfaces are able to retain all amyloid biomarkers.

Are the interactions between recombinant prion proteins and polymeric surfaces related to the hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance?

New non-fouling tubes are developed and their influence on the adhesion of neuroproteins is studied. Recombinant prion proteins are considered as a single component representative of hydrophobic proteins. Samples are stored for 24 h at 4 °C in tubes coated with two different coatings: poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) as a hydrophilic surface and a plasma-fluorinated coating as a hydrophobic one. The protein adhesion is monitored by ELISA tests, XPS and confocal microscopy. It appears that the highest recovery of recombinant prion protein in the liquid phase is obtained with the hydrophilic surface while the hydrophobic character of the storage tube induces an important amount of biological loss. However, the recovery is not complete even for tubes coated with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide).

Surface treatment of polymeric materials controlling the adhesion of biomolecules.

This review describes different strategies of surface elaboration for a better control of biomolecule adsorption. After a brief description of the fundamental interactions between surfaces and biomolecules, various routes of surface elaboration are presented dealing with the attachment of functional groups mostly thanks to plasma techniques, with the grafting to and from methods, and with the adsorption of surfactants. The grafting of stimuli-responsive polymers is also pointed out. Then, the discussion is focused on the protein adsorption phenomena showing how their interactions with solid surfaces are complex. The adsorption mechanism is proved to be dependent on the solid surface physicochemical properties as well as on the surface and conformation properties of the proteins. Different behaviors are also reported for complex multiple protein solutions.

Elaboration of nano-structured grafted polymeric surface.

The surface grafting of multi-polymeric materials can be achieved by grafting as components such as polymers poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and/or surfactant molecules (hexatrimethylammonium bromide, polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolaurate). The chosen grafting techniques, i.e. plasma activation followed by coating, allow a large spectrum of functional groups that can be inserted on the surface controlling the surface properties like adhesion, wettability and biocompatibility. The grafted polypropylene surfaces were characterized by contact angle analyses, XPS and AFM analyses. The influence of He plasma activation, of the coating parameters such as concentrations of the various reactive agents are discussed in terms of hydrophilic character, chemical composition and morphologic surface heterogeneity. The plasma pre-activation was shown inevitable for a permanent polymeric grafting. PNIPAM was grafted alone or with a mixture of the surfactant molecules. Depending on the individual proportion of each component, the grafted surfaces are shown homogeneous or composed of small domains of one component leading to a nano-structuration of the grafted surface.