AUTHOR=Fornasier Marco , Murgia Sergio 

TITLE=Non-lamellar lipid liquid crystalline nanoparticles: A smart platform for nanomedicine applications

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Soft Matter

VOLUME=Volume 3 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/soft-matter/articles/10.3389/frsfm.2023.1109508

DOI=10.3389/frsfm.2023.1109508

ISSN=2813-0499

ABSTRACT=The increased interest of the scientific community towards lipid nanoparticles, especially after the covid 19 pandemic, has pushed the boundaries of personal medicine and drug delivery. The focus has been set on vesicular nanocarriers, as their structure and functionalities has been well described, but the application of their non-lamellar counterparts, cubosomes and hexosomes, has shown their potency as specific drug carriers. Indeed, also the sponge phase dispersion (L3, an intermediate between the lamellar and the bicontinuous cubic) has been proved as effective for encapsulation of large macromolecules. Their physico-chemical characterization has improved in the past decades due to the investigations conducted at high-power synchrotron facilities and the application of surface sensitive techniques, discovering new connections between physical parameters and biological performance. Several administration routes of cubosomes and hexosomes have been studied, e.g. intravenous, dermal, transdermal and oral, to evaluate their cytotoxicity and distribution in biological media. 
This review aims to summarize the challenges and recent achievements of cubosomes, hexosomes and sponge nanoparticles as suitable carriers for administration of bio-actives.