Browsing by Author "Fong, WK"

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    Controlling the nanostructure of gold nanorod-lyotropic liquid-crystalline hybrid materials using near-infrared laser irradiation
    (American Chemical Society, 2012-10-09) Fong, WK; Hanley, TL; Thierry, B; Kirby, N; Waddington, LJ; Boyd, BJ
    Lipid-based liquid-crystalline matrixes provide a unique prospect for stimuli-responsive nanomaterials, attributed to the ability to effect self-assembly of the lipids at the molecular level. Differences in liquid crystal nanostructure have previously been shown to change drug diffusion and hence release, with research progressing toward the use of in situ changes to nanostructure to control drug release. Toward this goal, we have previously communicated the ability to switch between nonlamellar structures using gold nanorod (GNR)-phytantriol-based liquid-crystalline hybrid nanomaterials as near-infrared light responsive systems (Fong et al. Langmuir 2010, 26, 6136-6139). In this study, the effect of laser activation on matrix nanostructure with changes in a number of system variables including lipid composition, GNR aspect ratio, GNR concentration, and laser pulse time were investigated. The nanostructure of the matrix was followed using small-angle X-ray scattering, while both cryoFESEM and cryoTEM were used to visualize the effect of GNR incorporation into the liquid crystal nanostructure. The system response was found to be dependent on all variables, thus demonstrating the potential of these nanocomposite materials as reversible "on-demand" drug delivery applications. © 2012, American Chemical Society.
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    External manipulation of nanostructure in photoresponsive lipid depot matrix to control and predict drug release in vivo
    (Elsevier B.V., 2016-04-28) Fong, WK; Hanley, TL; Thierry, B; Hawley, A; Boyd, BJ; Landersdorfer, CB
    On-demand drug delivery systems are highly promising to control the time-course of drug release and ultimately optimize drug concentration time profiles in patients. Lipid based lyotropic liquid crystalline mesophases have demonstrated exceptional responsiveness to external stimuli such as heat, pH and light. Our objective was to quantitatively characterize the time-course of light activated drug release from near infrared (NIR) activated photothermal systems using ex vivo and in vivo studies. Photoresponsive hybrid gold nanorod-liquid crystalline matrices were prepared and loaded into custom-made implants which were inserted into subcutaneous tissues in rats. Time resolved SAXS studies showed the abdomen to be the best site of implantation to achieve in vivo activation of the subcutaneous dose from by the NIR laser. External control of drug release was achieved via NIR laser light and plasma concentrations of the model drug were determined over time. Laser activation achieved a phase change of the photoresponsive formulations and thereby a considerable change in the rate of drug release. Population pharmacokinetic modeling of all results simultaneously revealed a two stage release process unique to these liquid crystalline matrices. The developed structural model was able to successfully describe also the results of our previous study in 2009 where a change in temperature was utilized to trigger subcutaneous drug release. Thus, modeling of the data proved to be a valuable analytical tool which provided a quantitative understanding of the time-course of drug release in vivo and will be essential in the development of these matrices as on-demand release systems. © 2016, Elsevier B.V.
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    Lipidic drug delivery systems are responsive to the human microbiome
    (Elsevier, 2025-01) Caukwell, J; Assenza, S; Hassan, KA; Neilan, BA; Clulow, AJ; Manni, LS; Fong, WK
    In vitro and in vivo tests for therapeutic agents are typically conducted in sterile environments, but many target areas for drug delivery are home to thousands of microbial species. Here, we examine the behaviour of lipidic nanomaterials after exposure to representative strains of four bacterial species found in the gastrointestinal tract and skin. Small angle X-ray scattering measurements show that the nanostructure of monoolein cubic and inverse hexagonal phases are transformed, respectively, into inverse hexagonal and inverse micellar cubic phases upon exposure to a strain of live Staphylococcus aureus often present on skin and mucosa. Further investigation demonstrates that enzymatic hydrolysis and cell membrane lipid transfer are both likely responsible for this effect. The structural responses to S. aureus are rapid and significantly reduce the rate of drug release from monoolein-based nanomaterials. These findings are the first to demonstrate how a key species in the live human microbiome can trigger changes in the structure and drug release properties of lipidic nanomaterials. The effect appears to be strain specific, varies from patient to patient and body region to body region, and is anticipated to affect the bioapplication of monoglyceride-based formulations. © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc - Open Access CC BY 4.0
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    Novel spiropyran amphiphiles and their application as light-responsive liquid crystalline components
    (American Chemical Society, 2013-09-05) Tangso, KJ; Fong, WK; Darwish, TA; Kirby, N; Boyd, BJ; Hanley, TL
    Light-responsive materials formed by liquid crystalline lipids in water have potential application to drug delivery through inclusion of photochromic additives such as spiropyran. A series of novel analogues of spiropyran (SP) have been synthesized with an SP headgroup that possess a C8 (SP-OC), C12 (SP-L), and C16 (SP-P) tail to probe the influence of the length of the hydrophobic tail on their physicochemical properties and effect on behavior in liquid crystal matrices with a view to application as stimulus-responsive elements on ultraviolet irradiation. In addition, compounds possessing an oleyl (SP-OL) and phytanyl (SP-PHYT) tail, to mimic those of the ?parent? reverse bicontinuous cubic (V2) phase forming lipids, glyceryl monooleate (GMO) and phytantriol, were also prepared. The photochromic compounds were characterized by their melting points and photophysical behavior in solution using techniques including hot stage microscopy (HSM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and UV?visible spectroscopy. Their effect on the equilibrium nanostructure of bulk V2 phases and phase-switching kinetics after exposure to UV light was assessed using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The melting point of the SP derivatives decreased linearly with increasing chain length, which suggests that interactions between the head groups governed their melting point, rather than the van der Waals interactions between the tails. Changing the R group did not influence the equilibrium rate constants for the isomerization of SP. Phase transition temperatures of liquid crystalline (LC) matrices were influenced significantly by incorporation of the SP derivatives and were greatest when the photochromic compound possessed an intermediate tail length substituent compared to the short alkyl or bulkier moieties. The level of disruption of lipid packing, and hence phase structure, were dependent on the duration of UV exposure. © 2013, American Chemical Society.
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    Plasmonic nanorods provide reversible control over nanostructure of self-assembled drug delivery materials
    (American Chemical Society, 2010-05-04) Fong, WK; Hanley, TL; Thierry, B; Kirby, N; Boyd, BJ
    The nanostructure of mesophase liquid crystals prepared from amphiphilic lipids controls the rate of release of incorporated agents from the material, such as drug molecules, and reversible transition between different nanostructures essentially provides an “on−off” switch for release (Fong, W.-K.; Hanley, T.; Boyd, B. J. J. Controlled Release 2009, 135, 218−226). In this study, the incorporation of plasmonic hydrophobized gold nanorods (GNRs) permits reversible manipulation of nanostructure on-demand, by irradiation of the matrix using a near-infrared laser. Synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering was used to probe the kinetics of the response of nanostructure to laser irradiation, and the specificity of the approach is shown by the lack of response in the absence of nanorods, or for GNR whose dimensions are not matched to the specific wavelength of the incident light. © 2010, American Chemical Society
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    Stimuli responsive liquid crystals provide 'on-demand' drug delivery in vitro and in vivo
    (Elsevier, 2009-05-05) Fong, WK; Hanley, TL; Boyd, BJ
    Lipid-based liquid crystalline materials have been proposed as controlled drug delivery systems. Differences in liquid crystal nanostructure have previously been shown to change drug diffusion and hence release, however there has been little progress towards the use of in situ changes to nanostructure to control drug release. In this study, phytantriol and glyceryl monooleate-based bicontinuous cubic (Q(2)) and inverse hexagonal (H-2) nanostructures have been designed to allow change to the nanostructure in response to external change in temperature, with a view to controlling drug release rates in vivo. Changes to nanostructure with temperature were confirmed by crossed polarised optical microscopy and small angle X-ray scattering. Phytantriol containing 3% (w/w) vitamin E acetate provided the necessary phase transition behaviour to progress this system to in vitro release and in vivo proof of concept studies. Using glucose as a model hydrophilic drug, drug diffusion was shown to be reversible on switching between the H-2 and Q(2) nanostructures at temperatures above and below physiological temperature respectively. An in vivo proof of concept study in rats showed that after subcutaneous administration of these materials, the changes in nanostructure induced by application of a heat or cool pack at the injection site stimulated changes in drug release from the matrix anticipated from in vitro release behaviour, thereby demonstrating the potential utility of these systems as 'on demand' drug release delivery vehicles. © 2009, Elsevier Ltd.