Lipid-coated polymeric nanoparticles for cancer drug delivery

Polymeric nanoparticles and liposomes have been the platform of choice for nanoparticle-based cancer drug delivery applications over the past decade, but extensive research has revealed their limitations as drug delivery carriers. A hybrid class of nanoparticles, aimed at combining the advantages of both polymeric nanoparticles and liposomes, has received attention in recent years. These core/shell type nanoparticles, frequently referred to as lipid–polymer hybrid nanoparticles (LPNs), possess several characteristics that make them highly suitable for drug delivery. This review introduces the formulation methods used to synthesize LPNs and discusses the strategies used to treat cancer, such as by targeting the tumor microenvironment or vasculature. Finally, it discusses the challenges that must be overcome to realize the full potential of LPNs in the clinic

Nature's lessons in design: nanomachines to scaffold, remodel and shape membrane compartments.

Compartmentalisation of cellular processes is fundamental to regulation of metabolism in Eukaryotic organisms and is primarily provided by membrane-bound organelles. These organelles are dynamic structures whose membrane barriers are continually shaped, remodelled and scaffolded by a rich variety of highly sophisticated protein complexes. Towards the goal of bottom-up assembly of compartmentalised protocells in synthetic biology, we believe it will be important to harness and reconstitute the membrane shaping and sculpting characteristics of natural cells. We review different in vitro membrane models and how biophysical investigations of minimal systems combined with appropriate theoretical modelling have been used to gain new insights into the intricate mechanisms of these membrane nanomachines, paying particular attention to proteins involved in membrane fusion, fission and cytoskeletal scaffolding processes. We argue that minimal machineries need to be developed and optimised for employment in artificial protocell systems rather than the complex environs of a living organism. Thus, well-characterised minimal components might be predictably combined into functional, compartmentalised protocellular materials that can be engineered for wide-ranging applications

La lustration des champs à l’époque augustéenne au regard des sources littéraires

The lustration of fields in Augustan times according to literary sources. Significant discrepancies can be found between the information given in Augustan texts about the “lustration of fields”, and the precise description of the rite in Cato’s De Agricultura (§ 141), a century and a half earlier. The deities invoked, the nature of the sacrifices, and the number of participants do not tally. However, the only texts from the Augustan corpus concerning the lustration of fields are six excerpts from poems, which leads us to believe that the differences are more likely to result from the Augustan poets’ desire to adapt the rite to their own conception of agrarian religion, rather than from changes having occurred in the rite itself, or from a faulty knowledge of agrarian lustration rites.La confrontation des informations relatives à la « lustration des champs » contenues dans les textes de l’époque augustéenne avec la description précise que Caton faisait de ce rite, dans le De Agricultura (§ 141), un siècle et demi plus tôt, fait apparaître des divergences importantes. La divinité invoquée, le sacrifice ou encore le nombre de participants ne correspondent pas. Toutefois, étant donné que les six textes du corpus augustéen qui sont en rapport avec la lustration des champs proviennent de poèmes, nous privilégions l’idée que ces divergences sont plutôt dues à une volonté des poètes augustéens d’adapter le rite à l’image qu’ils ont de la religion agraire, qu’à une évolution possible du rite ou à une mauvaise connaissance de leur part des rites de lustration agraire.Troutier Julien. La lustration des champs à l’époque augustéenne au regard des sources littéraires. In: Dialogues d'histoire ancienne. Supplément n°4-1, 2010. Jeux et enjeux de la mise en forme de l'histoire. Recherches sur le genre historique en Grèce et à Rome. pp. 5-24

Les limites des propriétés foncières dans les œuvres des poètes de l’époque augustéenne : des frontières entre un univers sauvage et des espaces civilisés ?

Cette étude a pour objectif de proposer une interprétation du discours produit par les principaux poètes de l’époque augustéenne, sur les limites des propriétés foncières, dans la perspective d’une distinction entre des territoires civilisés et des espaces sauvages. Autrement dit, il s’agit de déterminer si Virgile, Horace, Properce, Tibulle et Ovide ont considéré, ou du moins présenté, les limites des fundi, comme des frontières destinées à séparer un espace intérieur civilisé, maîtrisé, d’u..

Élaboration de lipoparticules en vue d'applications biomédicales

LYON1-BU.Sciences (692662101) / SudocSudocFranceF

An overview of lipid membrane supported by colloidal particles

International audienc

Physicochemical and Interfacial Investigation of Lipid/Polymer Particle Assemblies

International audienc

Adsorption of Plasmid DNA onto Lipid/Polymer Particle Assemblies

In this study, the adsorption of plasmid DNA onto preformed lipid/polymer particle assemblies was investigated. These assemblies, called LipoParticles, with a great potential in the biomedical field, were previously studied and thoroughly characterized. They consist of submicrometer anionic spherical polymer particles composed of either poly(styrene) or poly(lactic acid) which are coated with lipid layers formed by mixtures of zwitterionic 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) and cationic 1,2-dipalmitoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DPTAP) in tunable proportions. The plasmid adsorption onto the LipoParticle surface was clearly established by the inversion of the surface charge of the assemblies, fluorescence microscopy observations, and agarose gel electrophoresis. From a quantitative standpoint, adsorption isotherms were found to be independent on the polymer core nature but rather strongly dependent on the adsorbed lipid shell composition. Furthermore, the data were fitted with the Langmuir model providing interesting information about the plasmid adsorption process such as the affinity constants between species, as well as the saturation levels of adsorbed plasmids onto assemblies. Finally, the compaction state of the adsorbed DNA was examined thanks to displacement experiments of a DNA-intercalated fluorescent dye, and found to be tightly related to the proportion of the cationic lipid in the adsorbed lipid layer. DPTAP-rich lipid formulations indeed displayed an important plasmid compaction that could be linked to a high affinity constant and a high amount adsorbed