Novel therapeutics have evolved regarding specificity and safety improvements, towards the obtainment of more effective treatments over the conventional counterparts through aiming specific target cells without damaging the healthy surroundings.

The search for green biomaterials, which can be easily obtained from the nature, has been growing in the research community. Melanin, a biodegradable and biocompatible material has shown to be very promising among distinct research areas, as biomedicine, dermocosmetics, nanotechnology and bioengineering. This way, due to its intrinsic properties, melanin nanoparticles plays an important role in the development of new controlled delivery systems in the search for new therapies based on the alteration of internal or external conditions. [1,2]

In this context, "smart materials" occupy a prominent place of interest owing to the ability of modulating the drug release profile under specific internal or external stimuli. Inherently conductive polymers (ICPs) present electrical, magnetic and optical properties and accoupled to a drug can be an easy system since we hypothesize that the drug release profile can be controlled by applying an external electrical current as a stimuli, through alterations in the redox state of ICPs. [3,4,5]

Previously synthetized functionalized melanin nanoparticles (FMNPs) with electro-responsive polymers, such as dopamine and pyrrole, will be used to assess the in vitro release profile of hydrophobic and hydrophilic model drugs such as dexamethasone and methylene blue, respectively. The studies will be performed in sink conditions and the incorporation efficiency and continuous release of the drug will be assessed.  Furthermore, in vitro drug release studies using electrical stimulation, will be performed to promote a controlled drug release of the drug using a function generator to vary the voltage and frequency of the stimuli.

References

1. Solano, F., Int J Mol Sci, 2017. 18(7).

2. Meredith, P. and T. Sarna, Pigment Cell Res, 2006. 19(6): p. 572-94.

3. Svirskis, D., et al., Journal of Controlled Release, 2010. 146(1): p. 6-15.

4. Esrafilzadeh, D., et al., J Control Release, 2013. 169(3): p. 313-20.

5. Pernaut, J.-M. and J.R. Reynolds, The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2000. 104(17): p. 4080-4090.