Captions of EuroCD 2023

news,

A week ago, we were bathing in cyclodextrin science in Budapest at the 7th European Cyclodextrin Symposium. As usual, the well-organized event was mainly dominated by European attendees, yet we also met fellows from Japan and the United States too.

Cyclodextrin manufacturers were represented by Roquette, WACKER, Ligand Pharmaceuticals and Cyclolab R&D Ltd. (the organizer, of course) and I was happy to see several companies focusing on developing cyclodextrin-based therapeutics, such as Beren Therapeutics, Cyclarity Therapeutics, ASDERA and CarboHyde.

During the 2,5 days we enjoyed 9 sessions of various topics:

  1. Cyclodextrin production & enzymology
  2. Synthesis of CD derivatives
  3. Cyclodextrin complexes and self-assembly
  4. CDs in drug delivery
  5. Biological effects of CDs
  6. CDs in gene delivery
  7. Environmental applications
  8. Analysis, application in sensing and imaging
  9. Agri-food applications

We had sessions for short presentations and could enjoy 67 posters during the breaks.

Personally, the presentations I found most interesting from academia were

At CarboHyde, we contributed to 6 oral talks and several posters highlighting our active involvement in both industrial and academic cyclodextrin research.

My takeaway is that the event was fantastic, especially due to the great conversations we could enjoy during discussions, breaks, and social events via the joint contribution to our community.

See you all in Dunkerque on the 10th June, 2014 at the International event!

I am really excited already, as Sophie Fourmentin showed great effort to invite CD cyclodextrins from all over the world, so this will truly be a global event. I would be extremely happy if not only global academia, but global pharma with all the several dozen CD users would be present to set good directions for the future of cyclodextrin research.

Cyclodextrin-Coordinated Liposome-in-Gel for Transcutaneous Quercetin Delivery for Psoriasis Treatment

Today's cyclodextrin,

Today’s cyclodextrin:
This is some fancy drug delivery: Cyclodextrin-Coordinated Liposome-in-Gel
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that is difficult to treat. Quercetin is a dietary flavonoid known for its anti-inflammatory effects and safe use in humans. However, the topical application of quercetin for psoriasis treatment presents a significant challenge due to its poor water solubility and low stability in semisolid preparations, where it tends to recrystallize. This work presents a novel liposome-in-gel formulation for the quercetin-based topical treatment of psoriasis. The quercetin-loading liposomes are stabilized by hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPCD), which interacts with phospholipids via hydrogen bonding to form a layer of an HPCD coating on the liposome interface, thus resulting in improved stability.
The in vivo results showed that the topical QT HPCD-liposome-in-gel improved the treatment efficacy of psoriatic plaque compared to free QT. It alleviated the symptoms of skin thickening and downregulated proinflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, IL-17A, and IL-1β. The results suggested that the HPCD-coordinated liposome-in-gel system could be a stable carrier for topical QT therapy with good potential in psoriasis treatment.

Cyclodextrin-Coordinated Liposome-in-Gel for Transcutaneous Quercetin Delivery for Psoriasis Treatment | ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

Cyclodextrins as Multi-Functional Ingredients in Dentistry

Today's cyclodextrin

Today’s cyclodextrin:
is a fascinating review again from Susana Santos Braga, now about using CDs in #dentistry.
Cyclodextrins are present in a variety of oral hygiene compositions. The present work describes the role of cyclodextrins in several toothpastes and mouthwashes that are already available in the market, as well as their prospective use in other applications as investigated in studies in the literature. Moreover, cyclodextrins are under study for the development of materials used in various techniques of dental repair, such as fillings, cements and binders therein. Finally, the prospect of the use of cyclodextrin-based delivery systems for the oral cavity is introduced, with a focus on new cyclodextrin molecules with dual action as bone-targeting agents and osteogenic drugs, and on new cross-linked cyclodextrin particles with a high drug loading and sustained drug delivery profile for the treatment of diseases that require prolonged action, such as periodontitis. In conclusion, cyclodextrins are herein demonstrated to act as versatile and multi-action ingredients with a broad range of applications in dentistry. 

Pharmaceutics | Free Full-Text | Cyclodextrins as Multi-Functional Ingredients in Dentistry (mdpi.com)

Metal-binding cyclodextrins: Synthesis and complexation with Zn2+ and Ga3+ cations towards antimicrobial applications

carbohydrates,

The latest paper of our CSO, Milo Malanga resulted from a great collaboration with Marco Agnes, Gábor Benkovics, Georgios Miliotis, Dina Yannakopoulou, and several others, is just out!
We have prepared a family of cyclodextrins substituted with iminodiacetic acid (IDA) on their narrow side, while the wider side is either unmodified or per-2,3-O-methylated. The molecules form strong coordination complexes with Zn2+ or Ga3+ cations in aqueous solution. 50 μΜ of the compounds achieve complete re-sensitization of metallo-β-lactamase-producing Gram-negative clinical bacterial strains resistant to the carbapenems imipenem and meropenem.

Metal-binding cyclodextrins: Synthesis and complexation with Zn2+ and Ga3+ cations towards antimicrobial applications – ScienceDirect

Influence of Encapsulation of Propolis Extract with 2-Hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) on Polyphenolic Contents during In Vitro Simulation of Digestion

Today's cyclodextrin,

Today’s cyclodextrin:
A great case study of how combining CDs with a complex material like propolis could lead to improved properties. The propolis complex, in the form of water-soluble powder of propolis extract with the carrier 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) was prepared and superior bioaccessability for polyphenolic components shown.
Croatian veterinary institute – Ksenija Šandor et al

Applied Sciences | Free Full-Text | Influence of Encapsulation of Propolis Extract with 2-Hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) on Polyphenolic Contents during In Vitro Simulation of Digestion (mdpi.com)

A Universal Cyclodextrin-Based Nanovaccine Platform Delivers Epitope Peptides for Enhanced Antitumor Immunity

Today's cyclodextrin

Currently, there is still an intense demand for a simple and scalable delivery platform for peptide-based cancer vaccines. This Cyclodextrin-based polymer nanovaccine platform (CDNP) is designed for the codelivery of peptides with two immune adjuvants that is broadly applicable to epitope peptides with diverse sequences. Specifically, the cyclodextrin-based polymers are covalently linked to epitope peptides via a bioreactive bond-containing cross-linker and then physically load with R848 and CpG to obtain CDNP. The CDNP efficiently accumulats in the lymph nodes, greatly facilitating antigen capture and cross-presentation by antigen-presenting cells. The immunogenicity of the epitope peptides is significantly enhanced by the codelivery and synergy of the adjuvants, and the CDNP shows the ability to inhibit tumor progression in diverse tumor-bearing mouse models.

A Universal Cyclodextrin‐Based Nanovaccine Platform Delivers Epitope Peptides for Enhanced Antitumor Immunity – Mao – Advanced Healthcare Materials – Wiley Online Library

Glycovaccinology: The design and engineering of carbohydrate-based vaccine components

carbohydrates, drug development

Of the many possible candidate antigens for subunit vaccine development, carbohydrates are particularly appealing because of their ubiquitous presence on the surface of all living cells, viruses, and parasites as well as their known interactions with both innate and adaptive immune cells. Carbohydrates have also garnered attention in other aspects of vaccine development, for example, as adjuvants that enhance the immune response by either activating innate immune responses or targeting specific immune cells. Additionally, carbohydrates can function as immunomodulators that dampen undesired humoral immune responses to entire protein antigens or specific, conserved regions on antigenic proteins. 
Spectecular review by Cornell University, Columbia University and Stanford University (Sophia Hulbert, Primit Desai, Michael Jewett, Matt DeLisa and Asher Williams)

Glycovaccinology: The design and engineering of carbohydrate-based vaccine components – ScienceDirect

Antibiotics in the clinical pipeline as of December 2022

drug discovery,

Do you think we are putting enough effort in developing novel antibiotics?
The need for new antibacterial drugs to treat the increasing global prevalence of drug-resistant bacterial infections has clearly attracted global attention, with a range of existing and upcoming funding, policy, and legislative initiatives designed to revive antibacterial R&D. Despite the promising early-stage antibacterial pipeline, it is essential to maintain funding for antibacterial R&D and to ensure that plans to address late-stage pipeline issues succeed.

See the full article here:

Antibiotics in the clinical pipeline as of December 2022 | The Journal of Antibiotics (nature.com)