Fig. 5

A schematic presentation of the improved efficacy of simvastatin-loaded LNPs in treating osteoporosis. (A) SIM was enclosed within lipid nanoparticles (NPs) that were further modified with aspartic oligopeptide 6 (ASP₆) moieties. The purpose of incorporating ASP₆ onto the NPs was to facilitate targeted delivery and enhance the affinity of the resulting formulation, known as SIM/ASP₆-LNPs, towards bone formation processes. (B) Characterization of the LNPs, ASP₆-LNPs, SIM/LNPs, and SIM/ASP₆-LNPs. Left: TEM images. Right: size distribution based on DLS. Scale bar: 100 nm. (C) Distribution of DiR-loaded LNPs and ASP₆-LNPs in ICR mice. Fluorescence image of the major organs (the heart, liver, spleen, lung, and kidney) and the femur and tibia 48 h after the tail-vein administration of the nanoparticles. LNPs: Lipid NPs; ASP₆-LNPs: Lipid NPs with aspartic oligopeptide; SIM/LNPs: Lipid NPs delivering SIM; SIM/ASP₆-LNPs: SIM encapsulating LNPs with ASP₆; TEM: Transmission electron microscopy; DLS: Dynamic light scattering; DiR: Tetramethylindotricarbocyanine iodide; ICR: Institute of Cancer Research. (B) and (C) were reproduced with the permission from Tao et al. [111]. (Copyright 2020, The Royal Society of Chemistry)