Polymeric nanofibers have been extensively studied as a biocompatible scaffold to be specifically applied in biomedical applications. Several biocompatible polymers with excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability have been widely used for the synthesis of nanofibers using the electrospun technique. With years of experience and high-end technologies in targeted delivery research, Creative Biolabs has successfully developed a series of innovative stimuli-responsive electrospun nanofibers for controlled release and targeted drug delivery.

Electrospinning

Electrospinning is a highly robust and versatile technique that produces fibers of diameters ranging from several nanometers to tens of micrometers. An electrospinning setup usually consists of a power supply, a piece of feeding equipment, a spinneret, and a collector. As shown in Figure 1, due to the complexity of electrospinning’s principle, many parameters can be tuned to govern the diameter, composition, morphology, structure, and alignment of the final product. Generally, the ultimate principle behind the formation of very thin fibers through electrospinning technique is due to the uniaxial stretching or elongation of a viscoelastic jet derived from a polymer solution or melt.

Fig.1 Schematic representation of an electrospinning setup.¹

Drug-loaded Electrospun Polymeric Nanofibers

Polymeric nanofiber matrices have been used as carriers to deliver therapeutic agents locally at specific sites of application. For drug delivery, a polymer solution (polymer and specific solvent) is first prepared. Then, a defined proportion of the drug is mixed into the polymeric solution, creating a homogeneous solution or a suspension. This mixture is electrospun to produce nanofiber composed with a solid complex of polymer-drug and the solvent is evaporated in this process. Different types of nanofibers can be synthesized by using different electrospinning strategies.

Fig.2 Schematic displays of the spinneret loaded with a bioactive agent for (A) blend, (B) coaxial, and (C) emulsion electrospinning.²

Applications in Targeted Drug Delivery

Electrospun polymeric nanofibers have proven to be an interesting strategy for drug delivery systems in biomedical applications. Their inherently high surface-to-volume ratio of the fibers can improve cell binding, drug loading, and mass transfer processes. Its surface can be modified with bioactive molecules and cell recognizable ligands targeting specific molecules. In the drug delivery field, the most important and well-studied area of electrospinning is the controlled release of active substances ranging from antibiotics and anticancer agents to therapeutic peptides, proteins and DNA. The biggest advantage of electrospun polymeric nanofibers is that a wide variety of low solubility drugs can be loaded into the fibers to improve their bioavailability or to attain controlled release. Besides the fundamental polymer carriers and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), an alternative approach is to modify the surface of nanofibers with a targeting module.

Fig.3 Wide range of applications of nanofibers.³

Compared with other drug delivery systems, the electrospinning technique is very versatile in the selection of its materials and APIs for their release. In the electrospinning strategy, the researcher can manipulate the rate of degradation of the fibers, hence the delivery rate of the drug.

Advantages of Electrospun Polymeric Nanofibersm

Two characteristics of the electrospun polymeric nanofibers worth noting are different drugs as well as the diverse polymers used for this application.

• Drugs: A great variety of drugs with different bioactivities are employed, such as anti-microbial, anti-cancer, anti-histamine, anti-inflammatory, cardiovascular, miscellaneous, gastrointestinal, palliative and contraceptive drugs.


• Polymers: natural and synthetic polymers and/or a mixture of both have been an object of experimentation and research with the electrospinning technique. Polymers including poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVAL), poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA), poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN), poly(urethane) (PU), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVAL), poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP), hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose (HPMC), cellulose acetate (CA), ethyl cellulose (EC), chitosan (CHS), collagen, gelatin, and silk fibroin have been extensively investigated to make fibers with desired properties for drug delivery applications.

Delivery System Based on Electrospun Polymer Nanofibers

Polymeric nanofibers have gained lots of attention in the area of drug delivery applications. Due to its simplicity, ease of composition method and high drug loading capacity, it provides various benefits for the therapeutic applications. For instance, RGD peptide is a typical recognition motif for integrin and can promote cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation. At present, different RGD peptide-decorated nanofibers such as RGD-PLGA nanofibers via an electrospinning technique have been developed.

Fig.4 Schematic diagram of RGD-PLGA nanofibers by the electrospinning technique.⁴

The use of nanofibers in encapsulating and delivering therapeutics is one area of focus in biomedical nanofibers. Nanofibers are attractive for two main reasons, a large surface area to volume ratio and relevant nanofiber properties, such as fiber diameter, porosity, and drug binding mechanisms. The adaptability of nanofibrous drug carriers allows this technology to show potential in targeted delivery. If you are interested in our delivery systems based on electrospun polymeric nanofibers, please feel free to contact us for more information.

References

1. Salaris, Valentina, et al. "Shape-memory materials via electrospinning: A review." Polymers 14.5 (2022): 995.
2. Nikmaram, Nooshin, et al. "Emulsion-based systems for fabrication of electrospun nanofibers: Food, pharmaceutical and biomedical applications." RSC advances 7.46 (2017): 28951-28964.
3. Chen, Xinyu, et al. "Advanced functional nanofibers: strategies to improve performance and expand functions." Frontiers of optoelectronics 15.1 (2022): 50.
4. Shin, Yong Cheol, et al. "Biomimetic hybrid nanofiber sheets composed of RGD peptide-decorated PLGA as cell-adhesive substrates." Journal of functional biomaterials 6.2 (2015): 367-378.

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