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Updated: Dec 26, 2025

Targeted Plasma Membrane Delivery of a Hydrophobic Cargo Encapsulated in a Liquid Crystal Nanoparticle Carrier
Published on: February 8, 2017
Facilitated Transdermal Drug Delivery Using Nanocarriers-Embedded Electroconductive Hydrogel Coupled with Reverse
Young-Hyeon An1, Joon Lee2,3, Dong Uk Son3
1School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Institute of Chemical Processes, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
We herein developed an iontophoretic transdermal drug delivery system for the effective delivery of electrically mobile drug nanocarriers (DNs). Our system consists of a portable and disposable reverse electrodialysis (RED) battery that generates electric power for iontophoresis through the ionic exchange. In addition, in order to provide a drug reservoir to the RED-driven iontophoretic system, an electroconductive hydrogel composed of polypyrrole-incorporated poly(vinyl alcohol) (PYP) was used. The PYP hydrogel facilitated electron transfer from the RED battery and accelerated the mobility of electrically mobile DNs released from the PYP hydrogel. In this study, we showed that fluconazole- or rosiglitazone-loaded DNs could be functionalized with charge-inducing agents, and DNs with charge modification resulted in facilitated transdermal transport via repulsive RED-driven iontophoresis. In addition, topical application and RED-driven iontophoresis of rosiglitazone-loaded DNs resulted in an effective antiobese condition displaying decreased bodyweight, reduced glucose level, and increased conversion of white adipose tissues to brown adipose tissues in vivo. Consequently, we highlight that this transdermal drug delivery platform would be extensively utilized for delivering diverse therapeutic agents in a noninvasive way.
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