Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Commons^™

Quality By Design Based Optimization Of Anti-Inflammatory Nanoemulgels For Local Treatment Of Burn Wounds, Leah Dickey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Burns are some of the most traumatizing and damaging skin injuries, with the potential of causing extensive internal damage that increases the risk of chronic wound development. Oral and topical analgesics in combination with antibiotics can provide temporary relief and improve wound healing progress for both mild and severe burns. However, recurrent systemic exposure to pain relievers and antibiotics has been associated with adverse side effects including nausea, drowsiness, abdominal pain, etc., and increased risk of new infections or even ulcers. Local and targeted drug delivery systems, such as nanomedicine, have gained attention as potentially more effective alternatives to improve …

Ligand-Installed Polymeric Nanocarriers For Combination Chemotherapy, Xinyuan Xi

Theses & Dissertations

Combination chemotherapy remains the mainstay of cancer treatment because such strategy targets different cell signaling pathways to decrease the likelihood of developing protective mechanisms by cancer cells, thereby delaying the onset of recurrence and prolonging the survival. The co-delivery of binary drug combination via a single nanocarrier provides benefits in reducing dose-limiting toxicities, improving the pharmacokinetic properties of the cargo, spatial-temporal synchronization of drug exposure, and synergistic therapeutic effects. Rational design of such regimen is crucial for maximizing the therapeutic effects since only certain drug ratios exposed to the target might be synergistic while other ratios exert additive or even …

Synthesis And Characterization Of A Long-Acting Emtricitabine Prodrug Nanoformulation, Ibrahim M. Ibrahim

Theses & Dissertations

The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy led to a paradigm shift in the management of HIV/AIDS changing a disease considered “a death sentence” to “a manageable chronic disease”. Nevertheless, challenges exist for successful treatment of HIV, including patient adherence to the complex daily regimens and the inability of current formulations to target viral sanctuaries. Introduction of nanoformulated antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a promising alternative to tackle these challenges. Our laboratory has been focusing on developing long-acting (LA) nanoformulated antiretrovirals and has succeeded in developing LA integrase inhibitors. However, challenges for this approach extend to a range of short-acting hydrophilic …

One-Pot Syntheses And Characterizations Of “Click-Able” Polyester Polymers For Potential Biomedical Applications, James F. Beach Ii

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

In this study, a synthetic polyester polymer was designed using polyethylene glycol, sorbitol, glutaric acid and 4-pentynoic acid as monomers. The synthesis was carried out using standard melt polymerization technique and catalyzed by Novozyme-435, an enzyme suitable for polyesterification of biocompatible compounds. The progress of the reaction was monitored with respect to time and vacuum exposure, with samples being subjected to standard characterization protocols. Polymers with high molecular weight and water solubility were chosen for further modification into folate-functionalized polymeric nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery to cancer cells. This was achieved by employing a solvent diffusion method, wherein the polymer …

Development Of Diverse Size And Shape Rna Nanoparticles And Investigation Of Their Physicochemical Properties For Optimized Drug Delivery, Daniel L. Jasinski

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

RNA nanotechnology is an emerging field that holds great promise for advancing drug delivery and materials science. Recently, RNA nanoparticles have seen increased use as an in vivo delivery system. RNA was once thought to have little potential for in vivo use due to biological and thermodynamic stability issues. However, these issues have been solved by: (1) Finding of a thermodynamically stable three-way junction (3WJ) motif; (2) Chemical modifications to RNA confer enzymatic stability in vivo; and (3) the finding that RNA nanoparticles exhibit low immunogenicity in vivo.

In vivo biodistribution and pharmacokinetics are affected by the physicochemical …

Rna As A Unique Polymer To Build Controllable Nanostructures For Nanomedicine And Nanotechnology, Hui Li

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

RNA nanotechnology is an emerging field that involves the design, construction and functionalization of nanostructures composed mainly of RNA for applications in biomedical and material sciences. RNA is a unique polymer with structural simplicity like DNA and functional diversity like proteins. A variety of RNA nanostructures have been reported with different geometrical structures and functionalities. This dissertation describes the design and construction of novel two-dimensional and three-dimensional self-assembled RNA nanostructures with applications in therapeutics delivery, cancer targeting and immunomodulation. Firstly, by using the ultra-stable pRNA three-way junction motif with controllable angles and arm lengths, tetrahedral architectures composed purely of RNA …