Park, E. J., Yap, B. L. H., Wang, X., Poh, Q. Z., Tan, C. H., Koh, L. F., Common, J. E., & Teo, P. (2025). Bioactive PLGA polymer nanoparticle loaded gels for atopic dermatitis treatment. Discover Applied Sciences, 7(4). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-025-06688-w
Abstract:
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a major chronic inflammatory skin disease that causes itching, redness and irritation. Categorizedas the largest skin disability, it poses a substantial financial and social burden on patients. In this study, we report on thesynthesis and characterization of arginyl-glycyl-aspartic acid (RGD) and hyaluronic acid (HA) conjugated amphiphilicbioactive PLGA brush block copolymer, poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)-b-poly(ethylene glycol)RGD (PLGA-b-PEGRGD) andpoly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)-b-poly(ethylene glycol)HA (PLGA-b-PEGHA), and amphiphilic bioactive PLGA homopolymers,poly[poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)-poly(ethylene glycol)-RGD] P(PLGA-PEG-RGD) and poly[poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)-poly(ethylene glycol)-HA] P(PLGA-PEGR-HA) via ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). Bioactive PLGApolymer nanoparticles are prepared using a reprecipitation method. The nanoparticles were formulated into gel formusing hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) as gelling agent and phosphate buffered saline (PBS, pH 7.4) as medium for furtherbiocompatibility test. The size and morphology of nanoparticles are determined using dynamic light scattering (DLS)and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging. The bioactive PLGA nanoparticles loaded gels demonstrated goodbiocompatibility from ex vivo 3D human skin model studies. In vivo studies using MC-903 induced AD mouse modelsshowed effective inflammation reduction and improved skin barrier repair using our PLGA-RGD nanoparticle loadedgel compared to hydrocortisone as a positive control. We demonstrate here the potential of using these bioactive PLGAnanoparticles for treatment of atopic dermatitis or skin inflammation condition.
License type:
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Funding Info:
This research / project is supported by the A*STAR - A*STAR GAP project
Grant Reference no. : I22D1AG037
This research / project is supported by the A*STAR - A*STAR Central Research Funding
Grant Reference no. :
This research / project is supported by the National Medical Research Council - Large Collaborative Grant
Grant Reference no. : MOH-001635