An injectable and in situ-gelling biopolymer for sustained drug release following perineural administration (original) (raw)

Applications of elastin-like polypeptides in drug delivery

Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are biopolymers inspired by human elastin. Their lower critical solution temperature phase transition behavior and biocompatibility make them useful materials for stimulus-responsive applications in biological environments. Due to their genetically encoded design and recombinant synthesis, the sequence and size of ELPs can be exactly defined. These design parameters control the structure and function of the ELP with a precision that is unmatched by synthetic polymers. Due to these attributes, ELPs have been used extensively for drug delivery in a variety of different embodiments-as soluble macromolecular carriers, self-assembled nanoparticles, cross-linked microparticles, or thermally coacervated depots. These ELP systems have been used to deliver biologic therapeutics, radionuclides, and small molecule drugs to a variety of anatomical sites for the treatment of diseases including cancer, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, and neuroinflammation.

A thermally responsive biopolymer for intra-articular drug delivery

Journal of controlled …, 2006

Intra-articular drug delivery is the preferred standard for targeting pharmacologic treatment directly to joints to reduce undesirable side effects associated with systemic drug delivery. In this study, a biologically based drug delivery vehicle was designed for intra-articular drug delivery using elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs), a biopolymer composed of repeating pentapeptides that undergo a phase transition to form aggregates above their transition temperature. The ELP drug delivery vehicle was designed to aggregate upon intra-articular injection at 37°C, and form a drug 'depot' that could slowly disaggregate and be cleared from the joint space over time. We evaluated the in vivo biodistribution and joint half-life of radiolabeled ELPs, with and without the ability to aggregate, at physiological temperatures encountered after intra-articular injection in a rat knee. Biodistribution studies revealed that the aggregating ELP had a 25-fold longer half-life in the injected joint than a similar molecular weight protein that remained soluble and did not aggregate. These results suggest that the intra-articular joint delivery of ELP-based fusion proteins may be a viable strategy for the prolonged release of disease-modifying protein drugs for osteoarthritis and other arthritides.

Author's personal copy Drug delivery to solid tumors by elastin-like polypeptides

Thermally responsive elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are a promising class of recombinant biopolymers for the delivery of drugs and imaging agents to solid tumors via systemic or local administration. This article reviews four applications of ELPs to drug delivery, with each delivery mechanism designed to best exploit the relationship between the characteristic transition temperature (T t ) of the ELP and body temperature (T b ). First, when T t ≫ T b , small hydrophobic drugs can be conjugated to the C-terminus of the ELP to impart the amphiphilicity needed to mediate the self-assembly of nanoparticles. These systemically delivered ELP-drug nanoparticles preferentially localize to the tumor site via the EPR effect, resulting in reduced toxicity and enhanced treatment efficacy. The remaining three approaches take direct advantage of the thermal responsiveness of ELPs. In the second strategy, where T b b T t b 42°C, an ELP-drug conjugate can be injected in conjunction with external application of mild hyperthermia to the tumor to induce ELP coacervation and an increase in concentration within the tumor vasculature. The third approach utilizes hydrophilichydrophobic ELP block copolymers that have been designed to assemble into nanoparticles in response to hyperthermai due to the independent thermal transition of the hydrophobic block, thus resulting in multivalent ligand display of a ligand for spatially enhanced vascular targeting. In the final strategy, ELPs with T t b T b are conjugated with radiotherapeutics, injtect intioa tumor where they undergo coacervation to form an injectable drug depot for intratumoral delivery. These injectable coacervate ELP-radionuclide depots display a long residence in the tumor and result in inhibition of tumor growth.

Molecular Size Modulates Pharmacokinetics, Biodistribution, and Renal Deposition of the Drug Delivery Biopolymer Elastin-like Polypeptide

Scientific Reports, 2018

Elastin-like polypeptides (ELP) are engineered proteins that consist of repetitions of a five amino acid motif, and their composition is easily modified to adjust their physical properties and attach therapeutics. Because of the repetitive nature of the ELP sequence, polymer size is particularly amenable to manipulation. ELP fusion proteins are being actively developed as therapeutics for many disease applications, and how the ELP size and shape affects its pharmacokinetics and biodistribution is a critical question for the general field of ELP drug delivery. To address this, we generated a library of ELPs ranging in size from 25 kDa to 110 kDa. Terminal plasma half-life was directly proportional to polymer size, and organ biodistribution was also size dependent. The kidneys accumulated the highest levels of ELP of all sizes, followed by the liver. Within the kidney, most ELP was found in the proximal tubule, but intra-renal localization shifted from exclusively cortical to a mixtur...

Drug delivery to solid tumors by elastin-like polypeptides

2010

Thermally responsive elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are a promising class of recombinant biopolymers for the delivery of drugs and imaging agents to solid tumors via systemic or local administration. This article reviews four applications of ELPs to drug delivery, with each delivery mechanism designed to best exploit the relationship between the characteristic transition temperature (T t ) of the ELP and body temperature (T b ). First, when T t >> T b , small hydrophobic drugs can be conjugated to the C-terminus of the ELP to impart the amphiphilicity needed to mediate the self-assembly of nanoparticles. These systemically delivered ELP-drug nanoparticles preferentially localize to the tumor site via the EPR effect, resulting in reduced toxicity and enhanced treatment efficacy. The remaining three approaches take direct advantage of the thermal responsiveness of ELPs. In the second strategy, where T b < T t < 42 °C, an ELP-drug conjugate can be injected in conjunction with external application of mild hyperthermia to the tumor to induce ELP coacervation and an increase in concentration within the tumor vasculature. The third approach utilizes hydrophilic-hydrophobic ELP block copolymers that have been designed to assemble into nanoparticles in response to hyperthermai due to the independent thermal transition of the hydrophobic block, thus resulting in multivalent ligand display of a ligand for spatially enhanced vascular targeting. In the final strategy, ELPs with T t < T b are conjugated with radiotherapeutics, injtect intioa tumor where they undergo coacervation to form an injectable drug depot for intratumoral delivery. These injectable coacervate ELP-radionuclide depots display a long residence in the tumor and result in inhibition of tumor growth.

Injectables and Depots to Prolong Drug Action of Proteins and Peptides

Pharmaceutics, 2020

Proteins and peptides have emerged in recent years to treat a wide range of multifaceted diseases such as cancer, diabetes and inflammation. The emergence of polypeptides has yielded advancements in the fields of biopharmaceutical production and formulation. Polypeptides often display poor pharmacokinetics, limited permeability across biological barriers, suboptimal biodistribution, and some proclivity for immunogenicity. Frequent administration of polypeptides is generally required to maintain adequate therapeutic levels, which can limit efficacy and compliance while increasing adverse reactions. Many strategies to increase the duration of action of therapeutic polypeptides have been described with many clinical products having been developed. This review describes approaches to optimise polypeptide delivery organised by the commonly used routes of administration. Future innovations in formulation may hold the key to the continued successful development of proteins and peptides wit...

Elastin-like polypeptides in drug delivery

Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 2016

Elastin-like polypeptides in drug delivery Contents 1. Introduction 2. Macroscopic devices for drug delivery 2.1 ELR-based depots and hydrogels 2.1.1 ELR-based depots and hydrogels for reducing systemic toxicity 2.1.2 ELR-based depots and hydrogels for improving therapeutic efficiency 3. Nanoparticle-based devices for drug delivery 3.1 Nanocarriers derived from ELRs 3.1.1 ELR block copolymers 3.1.2 ELR monomers 3.2 Nanocarriers derived from SELRs 3.3 Hybrid nanocarriers containing ELRs 4. Drug-ELR conjugates for drug delivery. 4.1 Drug-ELR conjugates as chemotherapeutic agents 4.2 Drug-ELR conjugates with self-assembling capabilities upon conjugation 5. Conclusions Acknowledgements References

An injectable drug delivery platform for sustained combination therapy

Journal of Controlled Release, 2009

We report the development of a series of physical hydrogel blends composed of hyaluronan (HA) and methyl cellulose (MC) designed for independent delivery of one or more drugs, from 1 to 28 days, for ultimate application in spinal cord injury repair strategies. To achieve a diversity of release profiles we exploit the combination of fast diffusion-controlled release of dissolved solutes from the HAMC itself and slow drug release from poly(lactide-co-glycolide) particles dispersed within the gel. Delivery from the composite hydrogels was demonstrated using the neuroprotective molecules NBQX and FGF-2, which were released for 1 and 4 days, respectively; the neuroregenerative molecules dbcAMP and EGF, and proteins α-chymotrypsin and IgG, which were released for 28 days. α-chymotrypsin and IgG were selected as model proteins for the clinically relevant neurotrophin-3 and anti-NogoA. Particle loaded hydrogels were significantly more stable than HAMC alone and drug release was longer and more linear than from particles alone. The composite hydrogels are minimally swelling and injectable through a 30 gauge/200 µm inner diameter needle at particle loads up to 15 wt.% and particle diameters up to 15 µm.

Treatment of neuroinflammation by soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor Type II fused to a thermally responsive carrier

Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, 2008

ObjectBiochemical irritation of the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) after intervertebral disc herniation contributes to radiculopathy through tumor necrosis factor–α (TNFα)–mediated inflammation. Soluble TNF receptor Type II (sTNFRII) sequesters this cytokine, providing clinical benefit. Previous work involving conjugation of sTNFRII with thermally responsive elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) yielded a chimeric protein (ELP–sTNFRII) with in vitro anti-TNFα bioactivity. Furthermore, temperature-triggered ELP aggregation into a “depot” prolongs protein residence time following perineural injection. In this study the authors evaluated the inflammatory phenotype of DRG explants after TNFα stimulation, and assessed the abilities of sTNFRII or ELP–sTNFRII to attenuate these neuro-inflammatory changes.MethodsRat lumbar DRGs (35 animals) were treated in 6 groups, as follows: control; TNFα (25 ng/ml); TNFα with low-(0.2 μg/ml) or high-dose (1 μg/ml) sTNFRII; and TNFα with low-(52.5 μg/ml) or high-do...

Strategies for enhanced drug delivery to the central nervous system

Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2008

Dwibhashyam, et al.: Drug delivery to CNS Treating central nervous system diseases is very challenging because of the presence of a variety of formidable obstacles that impede drug delivery. Physiological barriers like the blood-brain barrier and blood-cerebrospinal fl uid barrier as well as various effl ux transporter proteins make the entry of drugs into the central nervous system very diffi cult. The present review provides a brief account of the blood brain barrier, the P-glycoprotein effl ux and various strategies for enhancing drug delivery to the central nervous system.