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Valentina Onesto

Other affiliations: National Research Council
Bio: Valentina Onesto is an academic researcher from Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia. The author has contributed to research in topics: Medicine & Colloidal gold. The author has an hindex of 8, co-authored 28 publications receiving 239 citations. Previous affiliations of Valentina Onesto include National Research Council.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this review, a variety of stimuli-responsive MN patches for controlled drug release are introduced, covering the mechanisms of action toward different indications and future opportunities and challenges with respect to clinical translation are discussed.

96 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The purpose of this review is to provide an overview about the preparation and characterization of drug-loaded PLGA MPs obtained by single, double emulsion and microfluidic techniques, and their current applications in the pharmaceutical industry.
Abstract: Polymeric microparticles (MPs) are recognized as very popular carriers to increase the bioavailability and bio-distribution of both lipophilic and hydrophilic drugs. Among different kinds of polymers, poly-(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) is one of the most accepted materials for this purpose, because of its biodegradability (due to the presence of ester linkages that are degraded by hydrolysis in aqueous environments) and safety (PLGA is a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved compound). Moreover, its biodegradability depends on the number of glycolide units present in the structure, indeed, lower glycol content results in an increased degradation time and conversely a higher monomer unit number results in a decreased time. Due to this feature, it is possible to design and fabricate MPs with a programmable and time-controlled drug release. Many approaches and procedures can be used to prepare MPs. The chosen fabrication methodology influences size, stability, entrapment efficiency, and MPs release kinetics. For example, lipophilic drugs as chemotherapeutic agents (doxorubicin), anti-inflammatory non-steroidal (indomethacin), and nutraceuticals (curcumin) were successfully encapsulated in MPs prepared by single emulsion technique, while water-soluble compounds, such as aptamer, peptides and proteins, involved the use of double emulsion systems to provide a hydrophilic compartment and prevent molecular degradation. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview about the preparation and characterization of drug-loaded PLGA MPs obtained by single, double emulsion and microfluidic techniques, and their current applications in the pharmaceutical industry.Graphic abstract.

94 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review investigates the fabrication methods, protein delivery, and translational considerations for the industrial scaling-up of polymeric MNs for dermal protein delivery in microneedle patches for transdermal drug delivery.
Abstract: The growing demand for patient-compliance therapies in recent years has led to the development of transdermal drug delivery, which possesses several advantages compared with conventional methods. Delivering protein through the skin by transdermal patches is extremely difficult due to the presence of the stratum corneum which restricts the application to lipophilic drugs with relatively low molecular weight. To overcome these limitations, microneedle (MN) patches, consisting of micro/miniature-sized needles, are a promising tool to perforate the stratum corneum and to release drugs and proteins into the dermis following a non-invasive route. This review investigates the fabrication methods, protein delivery, and translational considerations for the industrial scaling-up of polymeric MNs for dermal protein delivery.

74 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is found that substrate roughness Sa affects networks topology and energy density of a network of cells correlates to the topology of that network, reinforcing the view that information, energy and surface nano-topography are tightly inter-connected and should not be neglected when studying cell-cell interaction in neural tissue repair and regeneration.
Abstract: Neural cells are the smallest building blocks of the central and peripheral nervous systems. Information in neural networks and cell-substrate interactions have been heretofore studied separately. Understanding whether surface nano-topography can direct nerve cells assembly into computational efficient networks may provide new tools and criteria for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. In this work, we used information theory approaches and functional multi calcium imaging (fMCI) techniques to examine how information flows in neural networks cultured on surfaces with controlled topography. We found that substrate roughness S a affects networks topology. In the low nano-meter range, S a = 0–30 nm, information increases with S a . Moreover, we found that energy density of a network of cells correlates to the topology of that network. This reinforces the view that information, energy and surface nano-topography are tightly inter-connected and should not be neglected when studying cell-cell interaction in neural tissue repair and regeneration.

48 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Self-assembling peptides as discussed by the authors can be considered a novel class of agents able to harvest an array of micro/nanostructures that are highly attractive in the biomedical field, and they can be used for a variety of purposes such as tissue regeneration and engineering or drug delivery to improve drug release and/or stability and to reduce side effects.
Abstract: Self-assembling peptides could be considered a novel class of agents able to harvest an array of micro/nanostructures that are highly attractive in the biomedical field. By modifying their amino acid composition, it is possible to mime several biological functions; when assembled in micro/nanostructures, they can be used for a variety of purposes such as tissue regeneration and engineering or drug delivery to improve drug release and/or stability and to reduce side effects. Other significant advantages of self-assembled peptides involve their biocompatibility and their ability to efficiently target molecular recognition sites. Due to their intrinsic characteristics, self-assembled peptide micro/nanostructures are capable to load both hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs, and they are suitable to achieve a triggered drug delivery at disease sites by inserting in their structure’s stimuli-responsive moieties. The focus of this review was to summarize the most recent and significant studies on self-assembled peptides with an emphasis on their application in the biomedical field.

31 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
06 Jun 1986-JAMA
TL;DR: The editors have done a masterful job of weaving together the biologic, the behavioral, and the clinical sciences into a single tapestry in which everyone from the molecular biologist to the practicing psychiatrist can find and appreciate his or her own research.
Abstract: I have developed "tennis elbow" from lugging this book around the past four weeks, but it is worth the pain, the effort, and the aspirin. It is also worth the (relatively speaking) bargain price. Including appendixes, this book contains 894 pages of text. The entire panorama of the neural sciences is surveyed and examined, and it is comprehensive in its scope, from genomes to social behaviors. The editors explicitly state that the book is designed as "an introductory text for students of biology, behavior, and medicine," but it is hard to imagine any audience, interested in any fragment of neuroscience at any level of sophistication, that would not enjoy this book. The editors have done a masterful job of weaving together the biologic, the behavioral, and the clinical sciences into a single tapestry in which everyone from the molecular biologist to the practicing psychiatrist can find and appreciate his or

7,563 citations

01 Oct 2012
TL;DR: The aim of this review is to highlight mechanistic, mathematical models for drug release from PLGA microspheres that specifically address interactions between phenomena generally attributed to autocatalytic hydrolysis and mass transfer limitation effects.
Abstract: PLGA microspheres are widely studied for controlled release drug delivery applications, and many models have been proposed to describe PLGA degradation and erosion and drug release from the bulk polymer. Autocatalysis is known to have a complex role in the dynamics of PLGA erosion and drug transport and can lead to size-dependent heterogeneities in otherwise uniformly bulk-eroding polymer microspheres. The aim of this review is to highlight mechanistic, mathematical models for drug release from PLGA microspheres that specifically address interactions between phenomena generally attributed to autocatalytic hydrolysis and mass transfer limitation effects. Predictions of drug release profiles by mechanistic models are useful for understanding mechanisms and designing drug release particles.

239 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this review, a great effort has been made to summarize the advance of microneedles including their materials and latest fabrication method, such as three-dimensional printing (3DP).

203 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the present review, skin anatomy and its barriers along with skin infection are discussed, and potential strategies for designing antimicrobial microneedles and their targeted therapy are outlined.
Abstract: Skin infections caused by bacteria, viruses and fungi are difficult to treat by conventional topical administration because of poor drug penetration across the stratum corneum This results in low bioavailability of drugs to the infection site, as well as the lack of prolonged release Emerging antimicrobial transdermal and ocular microneedle patches have become promising medical devices for the delivery of various antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral therapeutics In the present review, skin anatomy and its barriers along with skin infection are discussed Potential strategies for designing antimicrobial microneedles and their targeted therapy are outlined Finally, biosensing microneedle patches associated with personalized drug therapy and selective toxicity toward specific microbial species are discussed

188 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review provides an insight about microbial biosynthesis of nanomaterials by bacteria, yeast, molds, and microalgae for the manufacturing of sensoristic devices and therapeutic/diagnostic applications and possible industrial exploitation of these promising ‘nanofactories’.
Abstract: Nanomaterials are increasingly being used in new products and devices with a great impact on different fields from sensoristics to biomedicine. Biosynthesis of nanomaterials by microorganisms is recently attracting interest as a new, exciting approach towards the development of 'greener' nanomanufacturing compared to traditional chemical and physical approaches. This review provides an insight about microbial biosynthesis of nanomaterials by bacteria, yeast, molds, and microalgae for the manufacturing of sensoristic devices and therapeutic/diagnostic applications. The last ten-year literature was selected, focusing on scientific works where aspects like biosynthesis features, characterization, and applications have been described. The knowledge, challenges, and potentiality of microbial-mediated biosynthesis was also described. Bacteria and microalgae are the main microorganism used for nanobiosynthesis, principally for biomedical applications. Some bacteria and microalgae have showed the ability to synthetize unique nanostructures: bacterial nanocellulose, exopolysaccharides, bacterial nanowires, and biomineralized nanoscale materials (magnetosomes, frustules, and coccoliths). Yeasts and molds are characterized by extracellular synthesis, advantageous for possible reuse of cell cultures and reduced purification processes of nanomaterials. The intrinsic variability of the microbiological systems requires a greater protocols standardization to obtain nanomaterials with increasingly uniform and reproducible chemical-physical characteristics. A deeper knowledge about biosynthetic pathways and the opportunities from genetic engineering are stimulating the research towards a breakthrough development of microbial-based nanosynthesis for the future scaling-up and possible industrial exploitation of these promising 'nanofactories'.

138 citations