Nanostructured Lipid Carrier Development Service
Nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC) is a new type of lipid nanoparticle with promising potential for gene therapy. Our company is committed to providing complete solutions to help our customers develop NLC-based delivery systems to facilitate the delivery of genetic material into cells, accelerating the development of gene therapies for rare diseases.
Background
NLCs are a new generation of drug delivery systems developed in the late 20th century based on solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) and are proposed to be the second lifetime of lipid nanocarriers. Compared to SLNs and other lipid carriers, NLCs demonstrate higher loading capacity by mixing fluid lipids with solid lipids, allowing for higher elemental drug accumulation. The rigid morphology, high physical stability, and resistance to load degradation of NLCs ensure a better safety profile, thereby reducing the incidence of acute and chronic toxicity. Moreover, by adjusting the ratio of liquid to solid lipids, NLCs can also maintain a solid skeletal structure for a longer period of time at body temperature, which facilitates controlled drug release and provides increased flexibility for regulating drug release.
Fig. 1 Characterization of the optimized PNLC formulation/plasmid DNA complexes. (Bondì M L, et al., 2010)
Our Services
There are three main types of NLC: cationic NLC, neutral NLC, and target-modified NLC. Different types of NLCs have been widely used to deliver nucleic acids, such as different miRNA molecules for tumor gene therapy. Our researchers work to develop multiple strategies to help customers develop and characterize a wide range of NLCs to meet the challenges of genetic material delivery in gene therapy. Our services include, but are not limited to:
- Preparation of NLCs
We provide three methods including hot homogenization, cold homogenization, and microemulsion to help our customers prepare NLCs that are useful as delivery systems for genetic material.- Preparation of cationic NLCs, which can be used as carriers for negatively charged substances, including DNAs, RNAs, polypeptides, and oligonucleotides.
- Preparation of neutral NLCs, which have a targeted ability for delivery of miRNAs in vivo and have low toxicity.
- Development of targeting-modified NLCs
In order to obtain delivery systems with targeting efficacy, we have developed various strategies to help our customers prepare targeting-modified NLCs.- We coat NLCs with biocompatible polymers such as polyethylene glycol (PEG) to reduce recognition and phagocytosis of NLCs by macrophages and to improve the half-life and stability of NLCs in vivo.
- We improve the targeting of NLC delivery by coupling cell-specific ligands to the NLC surface.
- We use different ligands to modify NLCs to obtain delivery systems with different biological properties. For example, ephrin-A1 (ephrin type-A receptor 1) modified NLCs exhibit low cytotoxicity, high stability, and high loading efficiency of ephrin-A1 and let-7a.
- Physicochemical characterization of NLCS
NLCs must be characterized physicochemically to confirm quality control and stability. We provide customers with a variety of technologies such as photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and Raman spectroscopy to characterize multiple parameters of NLCS.- Analysis of morphological and surface features
- Detection of particle size and zeta potential
- Analysis of the encapsulation efficiency
With an in-depth understanding of the molecular structure and release mechanisms of NLCs, we are well-positioned to provide customers with services for the development and characterization of NLCs as novel delivery systems. Our specialist solutions will accelerate the development of safer, more effective, and stable NLC-based gene therapies, thereby promoting the development of rare disease therapeutic strategies. Please contact us for more details and to get a formal quote.
Reference
- Bondì, M. L.; Craparo E. F. Solid lipid nanoparticles for applications in gene therapy: a review of the state of the art. Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery, 2010, 7(1): 7-18.
All of our services and products are intended for preclinical research use only and cannot be used to diagnose, treat or manage patients.