Self-Assembling Drug Formulations with Tunable Permeability and Biodegradability

Area of Science:

• Nanotechnology
• Materials Science
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Drug delivery systems face challenges in biocompatibility, biodegradability, and overcoming biological barriers.
• Amphiphile-based nanocarriers, utilizing natural and synthetic components, offer self-assembly for supramolecular aggregate formation.
• These nanocarriers are crucial for encapsulating hydrophobic drugs, improving solubility and bioavailability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review key topics in nanocarrier design for drug delivery, emphasizing biomedicine criteria.
• To discuss amphiphile-based carriers, including biodegradable cationic and nonionic surfactants.
• To explore transdermal drug delivery challenges and nanocarrier applications in overcoming them.

Main Methods:

• Focus on amphiphile-based nanocarriers, including natural building blocks, lipids, and synthetic surfactants.
• Discussion of biodegradable cationic surfactants with cleavable fragments (ester, carbamate, amino acid derivatives).
• Analysis of nonionic surfactants for nanocarrier fabrication, skin interactions, permeability modulation, and drug encapsulation/release.

Main Results:

• Amphiphile-based nanocarriers self-assemble into supramolecular aggregates for drug encapsulation.
• Biodegradable cationic surfactants with specific fragments show promise for drug delivery.
• Nonionic surfactants are effective in modulating skin permeability and controlling drug delivery via various nanocarrier types.

Conclusions:

• Nanocarrier design is critical for meeting biomedicine criteria in drug delivery.
• Amphiphile-based systems, particularly those using biodegradable surfactants, offer significant potential.
• Further research into specific nanocarrier types like niosomes, transfersomes, invasomes, and chitosomes is warranted.