Targeted delivery of berberine engineered nanoparticles as a therapeutic intervention for influenza infection in COPD

Project Member(s): Dua, K., Oliver, B., Hansbro, P., Paudel, K., Williams, K.

Funding or Partner Organisation: Maridulu Budyari Gumal - The Sydney Partnership for Health, Education, Research and Enterprise (SPHERE) (Maridulu Budyari Gumal - The Sydney Partnership for Health, Education, Research and Enterprise)
Maridulu Budyari Gumal - The Sydney Partnership for Health, Education, Research and Enterprise (SPHERE) (Maridulu Budyari Gumal - The Sydney Partnership for Health, Education, Research and Enterprise)

Start year: 2023

Summary: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the second most common cause of hospitalisation and fifth most common cause of death in Australia. Influenza A virus (IAV) infection is particularly prevalent and life threatening in COPD patients causing tremendous healthcare and economic burdens worldwide. IAV impacts the global population through seasonal outbreaks and frequent but unpredictable pandemics. Current treatments have limited efficacy and are complicated by high frequency of mutations in IAVs, thereby creating an urgent need for more effective therapies. Berberine is an alkaloid with anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties, but it has poor oral bioavailability and limited gastrointestinal absorption. Thus, formulating berberine into engineered nanoparticles could be a potential approach to achieve increased uptake by cells and improve efficacy at low doses for a range of diseases including IAV infection in COPD. We hypothesise that encapsulating berberine in engineered nanoparticles will reduce IAV-induced inflammation in healthy people and COPD patients. We aim to develop berberine-loaded nanoparticles to deliver berberine as an effective therapeutic intervention for IAV infection in healthy people and those with COPD. This study will integrate advances in molecular biology and pharmaceutics to develop novel formulations that may provide an effective and non-invasive drug delivery system into the lungs.

Publications:

Haysom‐McDowell, A, Paudel, KR, Yeung, S, Kokkinis, S, El Sherkawi, T, Chellappan, DK, Adams, J, Dua, K & De Rubis, G 2025, 'Recent trends and therapeutic potential of phytoceutical‐based nanoparticle delivery systems in mitigating non‐small cell lung cancer', Molecular Oncology, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 15-36.
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Bani Saeid, A, De Rubis, G, Williams, KA, Yeung, S, Chellappan, DK, Singh, SK, Gupta, G, Hansbro, PM, Shahbazi, M-A, Gulati, M, Kaur, IP, Santos, HA, Paudel, KR & Dua, K 2024, 'Revolutionizing lung health: Exploring the latest breakthroughs and future prospects of synbiotic nanostructures in lung diseases', Chemico-Biological Interactions, vol. 395, pp. 111009-111009.
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Datsyuk, JK, De Rubis, G, Paudel, KR, Kokkinis, S, Oliver, BGG & Dua, K 2024, 'Cellular probing using phytoceuticals encapsulated advanced delivery systems in ameliorating lung diseases: Current trends and future prospects', International Immunopharmacology, vol. 141, pp. 112913-112913.
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De Rubis, G, Paudel, KR, Allam, VSRR, Malyla, V, Subramaniyan, V, Singh, SK, Panth, N, Gupta, G, Hansbro, PM, Chellappan, DK & Dua, K 2024, 'Involvement of osteopontin, EpCAM, estrogen receptor-alpha, and carbonic anhydrase IX protein in managing lung cancer via Berberine-loaded liquid crystalline nanoparticles', Pathology - Research and Practice, vol. 253, pp. 154971-154971.
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Jessamine, V, Mehndiratta, S, De Rubis, G, Paudel, KR, Shetty, S, Suares, D, Chellappan, DK, Oliver, BG, Hansbro, PM & Dua, K 2024, 'The application of nanoparticles as advanced drug delivery systems in Attenuating COPD', Heliyon, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. e25393-e25393.
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Kokkinis, S, Singh, M, Paudel, KR, De Rubis, G, Bani Saeid, A, Jessamine, V, Datsyuk, J, Singh, SK, Vishwas, S, Adams, J, Hansbro, PM, Oliver, B, Gupta, G, Dureja, H & Dua, K 2024, 'Plant-based therapeutics for chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases: Nanoformulation strategies to overcome delivery challenges', Food Bioscience, vol. 58, pp. 103761-103761.
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Kulkarni, MP, Paudel, KR, Saeid, AB, De Rubis, G, Chellappan, DK, Singh, M, Singh, SK, Gupta, G, Shahbazi, M-A, Oliver, BGG, Amiji, MM, Santos, HA & Dua, K 2024, 'Interplay of nano-based delivery systems and protein signalling in ameliorating lung diseases', Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology, vol. 102, pp. 106432-106432.
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Wong, SL, Gan, JS, De Rubis, G, Paudel, KR, Yeung, S, Chellappan, DK, Keng, PS & Dua, K 2024, 'Innovative phytoceutical-based drug delivery in the management of pulmonary fibrosis: A roadmap towards inhaled therapeutics', Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology, vol. 99, pp. 105942-105942.
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Bani Saeid, A, Patel, VK, Mehndiratta, S, Rajput, R, Kundu, RK, Singh, SK, Chellappan, DK, Kokkinis, S, De Rubis, G, Collet, T, Paudel, KR, Hansbro, PM & Dua, K 2023, 'Dissecting the in vitro fate of plant-derived bioactive encapsulated nanoparticles in lung diseases', Food Bioscience, vol. 56, pp. 103205-103205.
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Chakraborty, A, Paudel, KR, Wang, C, De Rubis, G, Chellappan, DK, Hansbro, PM, Samuel, CS & Dua, K 2023, 'Anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects of berberine-loaded liquid crystalline nanoparticles.', EXCLI J, vol. 22, pp. 1104-1108.
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De Rubis, G, Paudel, KR, Liu, G, Agarwal, V, MacLoughlin, R, de Jesus Andreoli Pinto, T, Singh, SK, Adams, J, Nammi, S, Chellappan, DK, Oliver, BGG, Hansbro, PM & Dua, K 2023, 'Berberine-loaded engineered nanoparticles attenuate TGF-β-induced remodelling in human bronchial epithelial cells', Toxicology in Vitro, vol. 92, pp. 105660-105660.
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Malyla, V, De Rubis, G, Paudel, KR, Chellappan, DK, Hansbro, NG, Hansbro, PM & Dua, K 2023, 'Berberine nanostructures attenuate ß-catenin, a key component of epithelial mesenchymal transition in lung adenocarcinoma', Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology, vol. 396, no. 12, pp. 3595-3603.
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De Rubis, G, Paudel, KR, Liu, G, Hansbro, P, Adams, J, Oliver, B & Dua, K 2023, 'Berberine-loaded nanoparticles attenuate TGF-β-induced remodelling features in human bronchial epithelial cells'.

Paudel, KR, Manandhar, B, Singh, SK, Gupta, G, Hansbro, PM, Chellappan, DK & Dua, K 2023, 'Cytotoxic mechanisms of berberine-phytantriol liquid crystalline nanoparticles against non-small-cell lung cancer.', IfADo - Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, pp. 516-519.
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FOR Codes: Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences, Natural products and bioactive compounds, Immunology, Human pharmaceutical products

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.