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A remotely triggered drug release system with dot array-like configuration for controlled release of multiple drugs

  • Biomaterials
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Abstract

Near-infrared (NIR) light as noninvasive external stimuli to trigger on-demand drug release has attracted great attention in recent years. However, the current existing NIR-related drug delivery systems (DDSs) still have difficulty in controlling the release of the individual drug separately. In the present work, a dot array-like DDS was developed for accurately controlling the release of multiple drugs. Each dot had a drug core and an outer protective layer. The outer protective layer consisted of lauric acid (LA) and polylactic acid (PLA). LA is a kind of phase-change material (PCM) with melting point of 43.8 °C. When loaded with polypyrrole nanoparticles (PPy NPs) that acted as photothermal transducers, the outer protective layer became NIR light responsive and was able to convert light into heat to melt the LA. As a result, the drugs stored inside were released. By changing the PPy loading, NIR light power density, and mass ratio of LA to PLA, the drug release profile could be carefully controlled. Such a NIR-responsive DDS may find great potential applications in treating diseases that require long-term therapies using more than one drug.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (31271009, 81271689), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2011121001), the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province (2011J01331), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University, and the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in Fujian Province University and the Xiamen Municipal Science and Technology Project (3502Z20144026).

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Author notes

  1. Lingmei Guo and Shihui Wang have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomaterials, College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Lingmei Guo, Shihui Wang, Yuan He, Rui Zheng, Lili Chen, Yanan Sun, Wei Shi & Dongtao Ge

  2. Department of Stomatology, The Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361004, China

    Zhong Zhang

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  1. Lingmei Guo
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  2. Shihui Wang
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  3. Yuan He
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  6. Yanan Sun
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  7. Zhong Zhang
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  8. Wei Shi
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Correspondence to Wei Shi or Dongtao Ge.

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Guo, L., Wang, S., He, Y. et al. A remotely triggered drug release system with dot array-like configuration for controlled release of multiple drugs. J Mater Sci 53, 9382–9392 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-2283-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-2283-7

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