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Molecularly Imprinted Polymers in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Area: Let's Make the Point

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A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2020) | Viewed by 12616

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Ortensia Ilaria Parisi

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Guest Editor

Department of Pharmacy, Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy
Interests: molecularly imprinted polymers; drug delivery; drug targeting; theranostics; functional polymers; stimuli-responsive polymers; biomaterials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Molecular imprinting represents a very interesting and powerful technology for the synthesis of polymeric matrices (molecularly imprinted polymers, MIPs) characterized by specific recognition properties for a target molecule called a template. This attractive and promising technology is based on the introduction of the template during the polymerization process and its subsequent removal after the reaction has taken place. The resulting MIP is a crosslinked three-dimensional network with relevant recognition abilities due to a chemical memory for the target molecule, which is also selectively bound in the presence of structural analogues and enantiomers. Moreover, MIPs are cost-effective and characterized by a considerable stability in different conditions, such as pH, temperature, pressure, and organic solvents. These polymeric materials can also be regenerated and reused without any loss in activity.

Currently, the potential application of MIPs as drug delivery systems (DDSs) for the controlled release of drugs— particularly those characterized by a narrow therapeutic index—is attracting significant attention due to their ability to control the release of the therapeutic agent used as template during the polymerization process. This results in a prolonged drug release and, thus, in reduced side effects and improved patient compliance. Moreover, MIPs can be modified by conjugation with specific targeting and/or imaging molecules, obtaining multimodal devices. These polymeric materials can also find application in pharmaceutical and biomedical fields as chemo/biosensors for the detection of drugs and their metabolites, artificial receptors and antibodies, chromatographic stationary phases for separation of enantiomeric drugs and adsorbents for the extraction of biological active molecules from different kinds of matrices. However, the optimization of these polymeric materials for drug delivery, development and screening applications represents an open challenge.

Therefore, this Special Issue is devoted to MIPs application in pharmaceutical and biomedical area and the most recent innovations in this field.

Dr. Ortensia Ilaria Parisi
Guest Editor

Keywords

Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs);
Drug Delivery and Drug Targeting;
Controlled/Sustained Release;
Stimuli-responsive Imprinted Polymers;
Artificial receptors and antibodies;
Chemo/biosensors;
Separations

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 6597 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Reduction-Responsive Molecularly Imprinted Poly(2-isopropenyl-2-oxazoline) for Controlled Release of Anticancer Agents

by Michał Cegłowski, Valentin Victor Jerca, Florica Adriana Jerca and Richard Hoogenboom

Pharmaceutics 2020, 12(6), 506; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics12060506 - 2 Jun 2020

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3571

Abstract

Trigger-responsive materials are capable of controlled drug release in the presence of a specific trigger. Reduction induced drug release is especially interesting as the reductive stress is higher inside cells than in the bloodstream, providing a conceptual controlled release mechanism after cellular uptake. In this work, we report the synthesis of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) based on poly(2-isopropenyl-2-oxazoline) (PiPOx) using 3,3′-dithiodipropionic acid (DTDPA) as a reduction-responsive functional cross-linker. The disulfide bond of DTDPA can be cleaved by the addition of tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine (TCEP), leading to a reduction-induced 5-FU release. Adsorption isotherms and kinetics for 5-FU indicate that the adsorption kinetics process for imprinted and non-imprinted adsorbents follows two different kinetic models, thus suggesting that different mechanisms are responsible for adsorption. The release kinetics revealed that the addition of TCEP significantly influenced the release of 5-FU from PiPOx-MIP, whereas for non-imprinted PiPOx, no statistically relevant differences were observed. This work provides a conceptual basis for reduction-induced 5-FU release from molecularly imprinted PiPOx, which in future work may be further developed into MIP nanoparticles for the controlled release of therapeutic agents. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecularly Imprinted Polymers in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Area: Let's Make the Point)

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18 pages, 2153 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) as Theranostic Systems for Sunitinib Controlled Release and Self-Monitoring in Cancer Therapy

by Ortensia Ilaria Parisi, Mariarosa Ruffo, Rocco Malivindi, Anna Francesca Vattimo, Vincenzo Pezzi and Francesco Puoci

Pharmaceutics 2020, 12(1), 41; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics12010041 - 3 Jan 2020

Cited by 47 | Viewed by 3391

Abstract

Cytotoxic agents that are used conventionally in cancer therapy present limitations that affect their efficacy and safety profile, leading to serious adverse effects. In the aim to overcome these drawbacks, different approaches have been investigated and, among them, theranostics is attracting interest. This new field of medicine combines diagnosis with targeted therapy; therefore, the aim of this study was the preparation and characterization of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) selective for the anticancer drug Sunitinib (SUT) for the development of a novel theranostic system that is able to integrate the drug controlled release ability of MIPs with Rhodamine 6G as a fluorescent marker. MIPs were synthesized by precipitation polymerization and then functionalized with Rhodamine 6G by radical grafting. The obtained polymeric particles were characterized in terms of particles size and distribution, ξ-potential and fluorescent, and hydrophilic properties. Moreover, adsorption isotherms and kinetics and in vitro release properties were also investigated. The obtained binding data confirmed the selective recognition properties of MIP, revealing that SUT adsorption better fitted the Langmuir model, while the adsorption process followed the pseudo-first order kinetic model. Finally, the in vitro release studies highlighted the SUT controlled release behavior of MIP, which was well fitted with the Ritger-Peppas kinetic model. Therefore, the synthesized fluorescent MIP represents a promising material for the development of a theranostic platform for Sunitinib controlled release and self-monitoring in cancer therapy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecularly Imprinted Polymers in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Area: Let's Make the Point)

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Review

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31 pages, 1877 KiB

Open AccessReview

Developments of Smart Drug-Delivery Systems Based on Magnetic Molecularly Imprinted Polymers for Targeted Cancer Therapy: A Short Review

by Nasim Sanadgol and Judith Wackerlig

Pharmaceutics 2020, 12(9), 831; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics12090831 - 31 Aug 2020

Cited by 56 | Viewed by 5108

Abstract

Cancer therapy is still a huge challenge, as especially chemotherapy shows several drawbacks like low specificity to tumor cells, rapid elimination of drugs, high toxicity and lack of aqueous solubility. The combination of molecular imprinting technology with magnetic nanoparticles provides a new class of smart hybrids, i.e., magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (MMIPs) to overcome limitations in current cancer therapy. The application of these complexes is gaining more interest in therapy, due to their favorable properties, namely, the ability to be guided and to generate slight hyperthermia with an appropriate external magnetic field, alongside the high selectivity and loading capacity of imprinted polymers toward a template molecule. In cancer therapy, using the MMIPs as smart-drug-delivery robots can be a promising alternative to conventional direct administered chemotherapy, aiming to enhance drug accumulation/penetration into the tumors while fewer side effects on the other organs. Overview: In this review, we state the necessity of further studies to translate the anticancer drug-delivery systems into clinical applications with high efficiency. This work relates to the latest state of MMIPs as smart-drug-delivery systems aiming to be used in chemotherapy. The application of computational modeling toward selecting the optimum imprinting interaction partners is stated. The preparation methods employed in these works are summarized and their attainment in drug-loading capacity, release behavior and cytotoxicity toward cancer cells in the manner of in vitro and in vivo studies are stated. As an essential issue toward the development of a body-friendly system, the biocompatibility and toxicity of the developed drug-delivery systems are discussed. We conclude with the promising perspectives in this emerging field. Areas covered: Last ten years of publications (till June 2020) in magnetic molecularly imprinted polymeric nanoparticles for application as smart-drug-delivery systems in chemotherapy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecularly Imprinted Polymers in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Area: Let's Make the Point)

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