New month, new paper! This time we’re taking a look at a novel possible application field of nanodiscs. The research was carried out by a collaboration of researchers from Saudi Arabia, Vienna, and the USA and was led by Dr. Samar Damiati.
She specializes in nanobiotechnology and is currently conducting research at the University of Sharjah (UAE) on topics related to synthetic bioarchitecture, biosensors, and microfluidics. Analyses of whether nanodiscs are suitable for possible drug transport in the human body were the focus of the present work.
The rise of nanomedicine
The use of nanobiotechnology in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases is the focus of a newly emerging medical field known as nanomedicine. It involves the design, development, and application of nanoscale materials and devices to target specific cells or tissues within the body, offering improved therapeutic outcomes with fewer side effects than traditional treatments. Nanomedicines have the potential to revolutionize healthcare by enabling personalized medicine, early disease detection, and more efficient drug delivery systems.
Fig. 1: Novel nanomedicine materials and components enable targeted delivery of drugs in the human body.
Using natural or biomimetic materials like lipids as carriers, nanomedicines allow the delivery of hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs, preferentially to disease areas to boost bioavailability. Although a number of medications have already been released using liposome-based drug delivery systems, liposomes do have some disadvantages. Short circulation half-lives, a finite capacity for drug encapsulation, and instability in biological fluids are some of the drawbacks of conventional liposome-based drug delivery methods. At this point, nanodiscs come into play to offset a few of the disadvantages of lipids.
Nanodiscs as drug delivery vehicles
The term nanodisc describes a small (7-50 nm in diameter) disc-shaped structure that finds use in proteomics and biomedicine. There are two key parts to it: Phospholipids, either naturally occurring in the cell membrane or synthesized, as well as a stabilizing belt that holds them all together. This can be a membrane scaffold protein or a synthetic polymer. The shape of the nanodisc closely reflects the physiological arrangement in nature, making them an essential tool for comprehending the structure and function of proteins.
Damiati and her team were especially interested in the physicochemical properties and the reliability of drug release of nanodiscs as these can perturb the bioavailability at disease sites. For their studies, MSP stabilized nanodiscs with albumin (BSA) were created as vehicle candidates. These were prepared both as fluorescence-labeled variants (FITC) and fluorescence label free. Subsequently, the influences of BSA and FITC on the physicochemical properties were investigated.
Fig. 2: MSP stabilized nanodiscs with albumin (BSA) created as drug delivery vehicles.
In addition to the correct ratios of the individual building blocks to each other for optimal self-assembly of the nanodiscs, the research focused primarily on properties such as particle size, shape, and molecular weight. Especially in protein release, these factors play a critical role (Sen Gupta, 2016). The size contributes to the half-life of the drugs, while the shape can rather influence the behavior of the release, with spheres showing slower release than other shapes. Furthermore, encapsulated proteins with small molecular weights release quickly, whereas proteins with larger molecular weights release slowly (Sandor et al., 2001).
Damiati's work highlights nanodiscs as an attractive solution for drug delivery due to their unique properties. High stabilities, specific ligand- or antibody-supported targeting, and general biocompatibility allow nanodiscs to provide reasonable protection for encapsulated drugs, improved therapeutic efficacy, and a reduced likelihood for heavy immune responses. However, pitfalls such as production scalability or fast clearance times, hindering drugs that require sustained release over a longer period, still pose a limitation for therapeutic use.
Overall, these potential problems highlight the importance of cautious assessment and optimization of nanodiscs for drug administration. Additional study is required to solve these issues and create efficient and secure nanodisc-based drug delivery systems. Therefore, the addition of BSA(-FITC) as a control medium, could play a significant role in the pharmacokinetic optimization process, further increasing the circulating half-life and bioavailability of small therapeutic agents.
Sen Gupta A (2016), Role of particle size, shape, and stiffness in design of intravascular drug delivery systems: insights from computations, experiments, and nature, WIREs Nanomed. Nanobiotechnol. 8 (2016) 255–270.
Sandor M, Enscore D, Weston P, Mathiowitz E (2001), Effect of protein molecular weight on release from micron-sized PLGA microspheres, J. Control. Release 76 (3), 297–311.
Keywords: Nanodiscs; Biomimetic model membranes; Albumin-nanocarriers; Nanotechnology; Synthetic bioarchitecture; Fluorophores
