@article{LuebtowLorsonFingeretal.2020, author = {L{\"u}btow, Michael M. and Lorson, Thomas and Finger, Tamara and Gr{\"o}ber-Becker, Florian-Kai and Luxenhofer, Robert}, title = {Combining Ultra-High Drug-Loaded Micelles and Injectable Hydrogel Drug Depots for Prolonged Drug Release}, series = {Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics}, volume = {221}, journal = {Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics}, number = {1}, doi = {10.1002/macp.201900341}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-208115}, pages = {1900341}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Hydrogel-based drug depot formulations are of great interest for therapeutic applications. While the biological activity of such drug depots is often characterized well, the influence of incorporated drug or drug-loaded micelles on the gelation properties of the hydrogel matrix is less investigated. However, the latter is of great importance from fundamental and application points of view as it informs on the physicochemical interactions of drugs and water-swollen polymer networks and it determines injectability, depot stability, as well as drug-release kinetics. Here, the impact of incorporated drug, neat polymer micelles, and drug-loaded micelles on the viscoelastic properties of a cytocompatible hydrogel is investigated systematically. To challenge the hydrogel with regard to the desired application as injectable drug depot, curcumin (CUR) is chosen as a model compound due to its very low-water solubility and limited stability. CUR is either directly solubilized by the hydrogel or pre-incorporated into polymer micelles. Interference of CUR with the temperature-induced gelation process can be suppressed by pre-incorporation into polymer micelles forming a binary drug delivery system. Drug release from a collagen matrix is studied in a trans-well setup. Compared to direct injection of drug formulations, the hydrogel-based systems show improved and extended drug release over 10 weeks.}, language = {en} } @article{ReuterHaufImdahletal.2023, author = {Reuter, Christian and Hauf, Laura and Imdahl, Fabian and Sen, Rituparno and Vafadarnejad, Ehsan and Fey, Philipp and Finger, Tamara and Jones, Nicola G. and Walles, Heike and Barquist, Lars and Saliba, Antoine-Emmanuel and Groeber-Becker, Florian and Engstler, Markus}, title = {Vector-borne Trypanosoma brucei parasites develop in artificial human skin and persist as skin tissue forms}, series = {Nature Communications}, volume = {14}, journal = {Nature Communications}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-023-43437-2}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-358142}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Transmission of Trypanosoma brucei by tsetse flies involves the deposition of the cell cycle-arrested metacyclic life cycle stage into mammalian skin at the site of the fly's bite. We introduce an advanced human skin equivalent and use tsetse flies to naturally infect the skin with trypanosomes. We detail the chronological order of the parasites' development in the skin by single-cell RNA sequencing and find a rapid activation of metacyclic trypanosomes and differentiation to proliferative parasites. Here we show that after the establishment of a proliferative population, the parasites enter a reversible quiescent state characterized by slow replication and a strongly reduced metabolism. We term these quiescent trypanosomes skin tissue forms, a parasite population that may play an important role in maintaining the infection over long time periods and in asymptomatic infected individuals.}, language = {en} }