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Abstract Ionic liquids (ILs) have emerged as promising biomaterials for enhancing drug delivery by functionalizing polymeric nanoparticles (NPs). Despite the biocompatibility and biofunctionalization they confer upon the NPs, little is understood regarding the degree in which non‐covalent interactions, particularly hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions, govern IL‐NP supramolecular assembly. Herein, we use salt (0‐1 M sodium sulfate) and acid (0.25 M hydrochloric acid at pH 4.8) titrations to disrupt IL‐functionalized nanoassembly for four different polymeric platforms during synthesis. Through quantitative¹H‐nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering, we demonstrate that the driving force of choline trans‐2‐hexenoate (CA2HA 1:1) IL assembly varies with either hydrogen bonding or electrostatics dominating, depending on the structure of the polymeric platform. In particular, the covalently bound or branched 50:50 block co‐polymer systems (diblock PEG‐PLGA [DPP] and polycaprolactone [PCl]‐poly[amidoamine] amine‐based linear‐dendritic block co‐polymer) are predominantly affected by hydrogen bonding disruption. In contrast, a purely linear block co‐polymer system (carboxylic acid terminated poly[lactic‐co‐glycolic acid]) necessitates both electrostatics and hydrogen bonding to assemble with IL and a two‐component electrostatically bound system (electrostatic PEG‐PLGA [EPP]) favors hydrogen‐bonding with electrostatics serving as a secondary role. 

Abstract Delivering cargo to the central nervous system (CNS) remains a pharmacological challenge. For infectious diseases such as HIV, the CNS acts as a latent reservoir that is inadequately managed by systemic antiretrovirals (ARTs). ARTs thus cannot eradicate HIV, and given CNS infection, patients experience neurological deficits collectively referred to as “neuroHIV”. Herein, the development of bioinspired ionic liquid‐coated nanoparticles (IL‐NPs) for in situ hitchhiking on red blood cells (RBCs) is reported, which enables 48% brain delivery of intracarotid arterial‐ infused cargo. Moreover, IL choline trans‐2‐hexenoate (CA2HA 1:2) demonstrates preferential accumulation in parenchymal microglia over endothelial cells post‐delivery. This study further demonstrates successful loading of abacavir (ABC), an ART that is challenging to encapsulate, into IL‐NPs, and verifies retention of antiviral efficacy in vitro. IL‐NPs are not cytotoxic to primary human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and the CA2HA 1:2 coating itself confers notable anti‐viremic capacity. In addition, in vitro cell culture assays show markedly increased uptake of IL‐NPs into neural cells compared to bare PLGA nanoparticles. This work debuts bioinspired ionic liquids as promising nanoparticle coatings to assist CNS biodistribution and has the potential to revolutionize the delivery of cargos (i.e., drugs, viral vectors) through compartmental barriers such as the blood‐brain‐barrier (BBB). 

Abstract Ionic liquids (ILs) have been shown to be effective transdermal penetrants of pharmaceutically active ingredients, including small molecules and proteins. The presence of water within ionic liquids has been demonstrated to play a critical role in  their structural organization on the molecular level. However, the impact of water on IL transdermal transport efficacy has yet to be investigated. Herein, a water concentration gradient (0%–100% v/v) is tested to evaluate  choline trans‐2‐octenoic (CA2OE)‐mediated transport of a hydrophilic model drug dextran (10000 Da) in an ex vivo porcine skin model.Compared to 2:1, 1:1, 1:4, and 1:5 ionic ratio formulations, 50% v/v CA2OE 1:2‐water evidences the greatest success at transporting dextran to the acceptor fluid. Physicochemical characterization (dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), optical density (O.D.), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), fluorescent microscopy, and rheology) is conducted to test both bulk and nanoscale‐level CA2OE 1:2–water interactions. It is hypothesized that the presence of microemulsions in the CA2OE 1:2 75% v/v formulation accounted for the severely decreased transport compared to the 50%. It is thus critical to comprehensively consider interactions between IL components, co‐solvents, anddrug molecules when formulating ILs for transdermal transport applications.