Magnetic nanoparticles as intraocular drug delivery system to target retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE).
One of the most challenging efforts in drug delivery is the targeting of the eye. The eye structure and barriers render this organ poorly permeable to drugs. Quite recently the entrance of nanoscience in ocular drug delivery has improved the penetration and half-life of drugs, especially in the anterior eye chamber, while targeting the posterior chamber is still an open issue. The retina and the retinal pigment epithelium/choroid tissues, located in the posterior eye chamber, are responsible for the majority of blindness both in childhood and adulthood. In the present study, we used magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) as a nanotool for ocular drug delivery that is capable of specific localization in the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) layer. We demonstrate that, following intraocular injection in Xenopus embryos, MNPs localize specifically in RPE where they are retained for several days. The specificity of the localization did not depend on particle size and surface properties of the MNPs used in this work. Moreover, through similar experiments in zebrafish, we demonstrated that the targeting of RPE by the nanoparticles is not specific for the Xenopus species.
Institute of Life Science, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33, Pisa 56127, Italy. m.giannaccini@sssup.it.
Martina
M
Giannaccini
Institute of Life Science, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33, Pisa 56127, Italy. m.giannini@sssup.it.
Marianna
M
Giannini
Instituto de Nanociencia de Aragon & Condensed Matter Physics Department, Universidad de Zaragoza, Mariano Esquillor edif. I+D, Zaragoza 50018, Spain. pilarcs@unizar.es.
M Pilar
MP
Calatayud
Instituto de Nanociencia de Aragon & Condensed Matter Physics Department, Universidad de Zaragoza, Mariano Esquillor edif. I+D, Zaragoza 50018, Spain. goya@unizar.es.
Gerardo F
GF
Goya
Institute of Life Science, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33, Pisa 56127, Italy. a.cuschieri@sssup.it.
Alfred
A
Cuschieri
Department of Biology, Università di Pisa, S.S. 12 Abetone e Brennero 4, Pisa 56127, Italy. ldente@biologia.unipi.it.
Luciana
L
Dente
Department of Biology, Università di Pisa, S.S. 12 Abetone e Brennero 4, Pisa 56127, Italy. vraffa@biologia.unipi.it.
Vittoria
V
Raffa
D000818:Animals; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D056965:Injections, Intraocular / Q000379:methods; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D055213:Retinal Pigment Epithelium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014981:Xenopus; D015027:Zebrafish
D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles