Gillian Barratt

Bio: Gillian Barratt is an academic researcher from Université Paris-Saclay. The author has contributed to research in topics: Nanocapsules & Liposome. The author has an hindex of 39, co-authored 125 publications receiving 5372 citations. Previous affiliations of Gillian Barratt include University of Paris & Centre national de la recherche scientifique.

Nanocapsule technology: a review.

Abstract: Nanocapsules are submicroscopic colloidal drug carrier systems composed of an oily or an aqueous core surrounded by a thin polymer membrane. Two technologies can be used to obtain such nanocapsules: the interfacial polymerization of a monomer or the interfacial nanodeposition of a preformed polymer. This article is an extended review of these nanocapsule technologies and their applications for the treatment of various diseases (including cancer and infections).

Biodistribution of long-circulating PEG-grafted nanocapsules in mice: effects of PEG chain length and density.

Abstract: Purpose: To study the pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of novel polyethyleneglycol (PEG) surface-modified poly(rac-lactide) (PLA) nanocapsules (NCs) and to investigate the influence of PEG chain length and content.

Determining the size and shape dependence of gold nanoparticle uptake into mammalian cells.

Abstract: We investigated the intracellular uptake of different sized and shaped colloidal gold nanoparticles. We showed that kinetics and saturation concentrations are highly dependent upon the physical dimensions of the nanoparticles (e.g., uptake half-life of 14, 50, and 74 nm nanoparticles is 2.10, 1.90, and 2.24 h, respectively). The findings from this study will have implications in the chemical design of nanostructures for biomedical applications (e.g., tuning intracellular delivery rates and amounts by nanoscale dimensions and engineering complex, multifunctional nanostructures for imaging and therapeutics).

Porous metal–organic-framework nanoscale carriers as a potential platform for drug delivery and imaging

Abstract: In the domain of health, one important challenge is the efficient delivery of drugs in the body using non-toxic nanocarriers. Most of the existing carrier materials show poor drug loading (usually less than 5 wt% of the transported drug versus the carrier material) and/or rapid release of the proportion of the drug that is simply adsorbed (or anchored) at the external surface of the nanocarrier. In this context, porous hybrid solids, with the ability to tune their structures and porosities for better drug interactions and high loadings, are well suited to serve as nanocarriers for delivery and imaging applications. Here we show that specific non-toxic porous iron(III)-based metal-organic frameworks with engineered cores and surfaces, as well as imaging properties, function as superior nanocarriers for efficient controlled delivery of challenging antitumoural and retroviral drugs (that is, busulfan, azidothymidine triphosphate, doxorubicin or cidofovir) against cancer and AIDS. In addition to their high loadings, they also potentially associate therapeutics and diagnostics, thus opening the way for theranostics, or personalized patient treatments.

Long-Circulating and Target-Specific Nanoparticles: Theory to Practice

Abstract: The rapid recognition of intravenously injected colloidal carriers, such as liposomes and polymeric nanospheres from the blood by Kupffer cells, has initiated a surge of development for "Kupffer cell-evading" or long-circulating particles. Such carriers have applications in vascular drug delivery and release, site-specific targeting (passive as well as active targeting), as well as transfusion medicine. In this article we have critically reviewed and assessed the rational approaches in the design as well as the biological performance of such constructs. For engineering and design of long-circulating carriers, we have taken a lead from nature. Here, we have explored the surface mechanisms, which affords red blood cells long-circulatory lives and the ability of specific microorganisms to evade macrophage recognition. Our analysis is then centered where such strategies have been translated and fabricated to design a wide range of particulate carriers (e.g., nanospheres, liposomes, micelles, oil-in-water emulsions) with prolonged circulation and/or target specificity. With regard to the targeting issues, attention is particularly focused on the importance of physiological barriers and disease states.

Metal-organic frameworks in biomedicine.

Abstract: Metal Organic Frameworks in Biomedicine Patricia Horcajada,* Ruxandra Gref, Tarek Baati, Phoebe K. Allan, Guillaume Maurin, Patrick Couvreur, G erard F erey, Russell E. Morris, and Christian Serre* Institut Lavoisier, UMR CNRS 8180, Universit e de Versailles St-Quentin en Yvelines, 45 Avenue des Etats-Unis, 78035 Versailles Cedex, France Facult e de Pharmacie, UMR CNRS 8612, Universit e Paris-Sud, 92296 Châtenay-Malabry Cedex, France Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier, UMR CNRS 5253, Universit e Montpellier 2, 34095 Montpellier cedex 05, France EaStChem School of Chemistry, University of St. Andrews Purdie Building, St Andrews, KY16 9ST U.K.

Strategies in the design of nanoparticles for therapeutic applications

Abstract: Engineered nanoparticles have the potential to revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases; for example, by allowing the targeted delivery of a drug to particular subsets of cells. However, so far, such nanoparticles have not proved capable of surmounting all of the biological barriers required to achieve this goal. Nevertheless, advances in nanoparticle engineering, as well as advances in understanding the importance of nanoparticle characteristics such as size, shape and surface properties for biological interactions, are creating new opportunities for the development of nanoparticles for therapeutic applications. This Review focuses on recent progress important for the rational design of such nanoparticles and discusses the challenges to realizing the potential of nanoparticles.