Intravitreal Polymeric Nanocarriers with Long Ocular Retention and Targeted Delivery to the Retina and Optic Nerve Head Region

Herein, we applied AF4 for the first time to investigate nanoparticle aggregation in the vitreous. Importantly, no aggregation of polymeric micelles or polymersomes was observed. Lack of aggregation is essential for retinal targeting, since aggregates are not able to diffuse in the vitreous, and they cannot permeate across the inner limiting membrane into the retina. Importantly, we demonstrate that AF4 is a useful tool for monitoring the aggregation properties of nanoparticles in the vitreous humor.

Junnuthula, V.; Sadeghi Boroujeni, A.; Cao, S.; Tavakoli, S.; Ridolfo, R.; Toropainen, E.; Ruponen, M.; van Hest, J.C.M.; Urtti, A. Pharmaceutics 2021, 13, 445. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics13040445