1. Influence of the Size and Charge of Carbon Quantum Dots on Their Corneal Penetration and Permeation Enhancing Properties
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Inès De Hoon, Alexandre Barras, Tomasz Swebocki, Bernd Vanmeerhaeghe, Bram Bogaert, Cristina Muntean, Amar Abderrahmani, Rabah Boukherroub, Stefaan De Smedt, Félix Sauvage, Sabine Szunerits, Universiteit Gent = Ghent University (UGENT), Institut d’Électronique, de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie - UMR 8520 (IEMN), Centrale Lille-Université de Lille-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France (UPHF)-JUNIA (JUNIA), Université catholique de Lille (UCL)-Université catholique de Lille (UCL), NanoBioInterfaces - IEMN (NBI - IEMN), Université catholique de Lille (UCL)-Université catholique de Lille (UCL)-Centrale Lille-Université de Lille-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France (UPHF)-JUNIA (JUNIA), Financial support from the 'Programme Investissement d’Avenir' (I-SITE ULNE / ANR-16-IDEX-0004 ULNE) managed by the 'Agence Nationale de la Recherche' is acknowledged. In addition, this project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the 'Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant' (agreement No 847568). Financial support from theCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the University of Lille is acknowledged in addition. F. Sauvage is a post-doctoral fellow of the Research Foundation-Flanders (grant number 12X3222N, FWO, Belgium). This work was partly supported by the French Renatech network. The authors would like to thank Maya Marinova for her help in carrying out the work on the electron microscopy facility of the Advanced Characterization Platform of the Chevreul Institute. The Chevreul Institute is thanked for help in the development of this work through the ARCHI-CM project supported by the 'Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur de la Recherche et de l’Innovation,' the region 'Hauts-de-France,' the ERDF program of the European Union, and the 'Métropole Européenne de Lille.', Renatech Network, ANR-16-IDEX-0004,ULNE,ULNE(2016), and European Project: 847568,H2020,H2020-MSCA-COFUND-2018,PEARL(2019)
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[SPI]Engineering Sciences [physics] ,endothelium ,cornea ,General Materials Science ,fluorescence spectroscopy ,epithelium ,carbon quantum dots - Abstract
International audience; Reaching the corneal endothelium through the topical administration of therapeutic drugs remains a challenge in ophthalmology. Besides, endothelial cells are not able to regenerate, and diseases at this site can lead to corneal blindness. Targeting the corneal endothelium implies efficient penetration through the three corneal layers, which still remains difficult for small molecules. Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have demonstrated great potential for ocular nanomedicine. This study focuses on the corneal penetration abilities of differently charged CQDs and their use as permeation enhancers for drugs. Excised whole bovine eyes were used as an ex vivo model to investigate corneal penetration of CQDs derived from glucosamine using β-alanine, ethylenediamine, or spermidine as a passivation agent. It was found that negatively charged CQDs have limited corneal penetration ability, while positively charged CQDs derived from glucosamine hydrochloride and spermidine (CQD-S) penetrate the entire corneal epithelium all the way down to the endothelium. CQD-S were shown to enhance the penetration of FITC-dextran 150 kDa, suggesting that they could be used as efficient penetration enhancers for therapeutic delivery to the corneal endothelium.
- Published
- 2023
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