Introduction

When a drug is administered to an individual, a drug delivery system (DDS) that controls its delivery and release into cells, tissues, and organs is very important. When the DDS is used, advantages such as maximized drug efficacy and stability, prolonged circulation in the blood, increased bioavailability, and minimized side effects could be achieved. DDSs exist in various forms: liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, viruses, cell membrane-coated inorganic and organic delivery systems, to name a few. However, these come with their own limitations; cell membrane-coated inorganic nanoparticles are toxic due core degradation, whilst cell membrane-coated nanovesicles have the ability to target with high precision only cells they have been derived from. Hence, there is an immense need for the fabrication of a versatile nanoplatform that can be used as a multi-theranostic approach targeting a variety of diseased tissues and organs.

Technical features

A simple way for fabricating fused cell membrane-derived nanoparticles (F-CMNPs) that combine highly-specific multi-targeting capabilities and phagocytosis-evasive abilities has been developed. This includes a method to produce cell membrane-derived nanoparticles, for controlling the delivery and the release of the administered drug. These nanoparticles are obtained by fusing cell membranes extracted from cells of two or more different cell lines via high-pressure homogenisation in presence of a dispersed therapeutic/diagnostic ingredient. The invention also enables the fabrication of cell-membrane derived nanoparticles enclosing an active ingredient, to be exploited as delivery systems for medical or diagnostic use. The data obtained showed that nanoparticles produced via these methods are unrivalled versatile theranostic agents.

Possible Applications

• Treatment of life-threatening diseases (e.g., ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, atherosclerosis, cancer);
• Nanomedicine and drug delivery systems.

Advantages

• Enables the fabrication of F-CMNPs with a multi-targeting ability that can be controlled by the selective choice and percentage of the desired cell membranes;
• An entirely biocompatible system, since the invented F-CMNPs are comprised only of cell membranes;
• High drug loading capacity (ca. 25%, which is four times higher than existing nanosystems).