What role might nanolipogels play in enhancing drug delivery?

The ideal Drug delivery systems (DDS) should be able to effectively and efficiently deliver the drugs to the targeted tissue or cells, releasing them at a desired rate while retaining their bioactivity. However, most DDS have some drawbacks, such as burst release, limited drug accumulation in the target organs, as well as off-target toxicity.

Nanolipogels or NLGs, which consist of a crosslinked core surrounded by a lipid membrane, are continuing to find applications in sustained drug delivery. The core is usually made of a polymer that is chemically crosslinked via the use of UV light or via ionic crosslinking. Studies have shown that varying the crosslink density of the core accomplishes two things: preventing leakage of cargo from the core; and entry into target cells without collapse of the NLG. Applications such as sustained siRNA delivery as well as targeted CRISPR delivery have been reported.

To date no clinical trial has been reported for NanoLipoGels, and the drug/gene delivery applications are currently in the pre-clinical stage. More work directed toward selective targeting using NLGs is warranted, as is a more systematic approach toward the mechanism of cellular uptake. These foundational research steps are essential for advancing the technologies and accelerating the translation to the clinical stage.