{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,12]],"date-time":"2025-11-12T03:27:28Z","timestamp":1762918048136,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,15]],"date-time":"2019-11-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1573776000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pharmaceutics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Glucocorticoid (GC) drugs are the cornerstone therapy used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Here, we report pH responsive poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine)\u2013poly(2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PMPC\u2013PDPA) polymersomes as a suitable nanoscopic carrier to precisely and controllably deliver GCs within inflamed target cells. The in vitro cellular studies revealed that polymersomes ensure the stability, selectivity and bioavailability of the loaded drug within macrophages. At molecular level, we tested key inflammation-related markers, such as the nuclear factor-\u03baB, tumour necrosis factor-\u03b1, interleukin-1\u03b2, and interleukin-6. With this, we demonstrated that pH responsive polymersomes are able to enhance the anti-inflammatory effect of loaded GC drug. Overall, we prove the potential of PMPC\u2013PDPA polymersomes to efficiently promote the inflammation shutdown, while reducing the well-known therapeutic limitations in GC-based therapy.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pharmaceutics11110614","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,15]],"date-time":"2019-11-15T11:24:32Z","timestamp":1573817072000},"page":"614","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":23,"title":["Macrophage Targeting pH Responsive Polymersomes for Glucocorticoid Therapy"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1643-7744","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Virg\u00ednia M.","family":"Gouveia","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"LAQV\/REQUIMTE, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Abel Salazar Biomedical Sciences Institute, University of Porto, Portugal, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK"},{"name":"Institute of Physics of Living Systems, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK"}]},{"given":"Loris","family":"Rizzello","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK"},{"name":"Institute of Physics of Living Systems, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK"},{"name":"Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 10-12, 08028 Barcelona, Spain"}]},{"given":"Claudia","family":"Nunes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LAQV\/REQUIMTE, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2913-0389","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessandro","family":"Poma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK"},{"name":"Institute of Physics of Living Systems, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK"},{"name":"Division of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, UCL Eastman Dental Institute, University College London, 256 Gray\u2019s Inn Road, London WC1X 8LD, UK"}]},{"given":"Lorena","family":"Ruiz-Perez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK"},{"name":"Institute of Physics of Living Systems, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK"},{"name":"EPSRC\/JEOL Centre for Liquid Phase Electron Microscopy, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK"}]},{"given":"Ant\u00f3nio","family":"Oliveira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Abel Salazar Biomedical Sciences Institute, University of Porto, Portugal, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Salette","family":"Reis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LAQV\/REQUIMTE, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Battaglia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK"},{"name":"Institute of Physics of Living Systems, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK"},{"name":"Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 10-12, 08028 Barcelona, Spain"},{"name":"EPSRC\/JEOL Centre for Liquid Phase Electron Microscopy, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK"},{"name":"Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Passeig Llu\u00eds Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"87","DOI":"10.1002\/wsbm.1320","article-title":"The macrophage and its role in inflammation and tissue repair: Mathematical and systems biology approaches","volume":"8","author":"Dunster","year":"2016","journal-title":"Wiley Interdiscip. 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