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Pharmaceutics
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Responsive Polymer Nanostructured Assemblies: Activity in Cancer Therapy
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Responsive Polymer Nanostructured Assemblies: Activity in Cancer Therapy

A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanomedicine and Nanotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2024) | Viewed by 6618

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Athina Angelopoulou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacy, University of Patras, GR 26500 Rion, Greece
Interests: nanotechnology; biomaterials; nanomedicine; molecular biology; immunotherapy; nanoscience
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The pharmacologic interest in polymer therapeutics has expanded to include drug delivery vehicles, control, and optimization of the transport activity of therapeutic agents, including peptides, proteins, genes, aptamers, RNA/DNA molecules, imaging agents, and small drugs. Polymers are of great interest due to the straightforward relation of therapeutic agents, increased payload, protection of the agents from hydrolysis or degradation, targetability at the tissue or intracellular sites, with changes on the polymers’ physicochemical properties in response to a stimulus (pH gradient, enzyme or protein, irradiation, heat, ultrasound, magnetic field gradient), enabling their use as dynamic modulators of cancer therapeutics. Traditional anticancer therapies lead to increased levels of toxicity in healthy tissues. In cases of drug-resistant tumors, the development of prominent smart responsive polymeric nanostructures and combinational treatments is of particular research importance. Aspects affecting the pharmacologic activity of responsive polymeric nanostructures are of interest in this Special Issue as long as they offer insight into linker chemistry, therapeutic agents, and polymer–cell interactions.

Dr. Athina Angelopoulou
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • responsive polymer nanostructures 
  • active agents 
  • mode of action 
  • cancer 
  • drug resistance 
  • combinational therapy 
  • LCST, UCST 
  • smart polymers 
  • targeted tissue 
  • in vivo activity

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Review

33 pages, 1972 KiB  
Review
Recent Applications of Amphiphilic Copolymers in Drug Release Systems for Skin Treatment
by Yudy Vanessa Cardona, Lizeth Geraldine Muñoz, Daniela Gutierrez Cardozo and Andrés Felipe Chamorro
Pharmaceutics 2024, 16(9), 1203; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics16091203 - 13 Sep 2024
Viewed by 559
Abstract
Amphiphilic copolymers (ACs) are versatile systems with self-assembling and aggregating properties, enabling the formation of nanomaterials (NMs) such as micelles, vesicles, nanocapsules, and nanogels. These materials have been extensively explored for the delivery of various drugs and active compounds, enhancing the solubility and [...] Read more.
Amphiphilic copolymers (ACs) are versatile systems with self-assembling and aggregating properties, enabling the formation of nanomaterials (NMs) such as micelles, vesicles, nanocapsules, and nanogels. These materials have been extensively explored for the delivery of various drugs and active compounds, enhancing the solubility and permeation of poorly water-soluble drugs into skin tissue. This improvement facilitates the treatment of skin diseases, including chronic conditions like cancer, as well as infections caused by bacteria, fungi, and viruses. This review summarizes recent applications of ACs in skin treatment, with a particular focus on their use in anti-cancer drug therapy. It covers the synthesis, classification, and characterization of ACs using various experimental techniques. Additionally, it discusses recent research on different drug delivery pathways using ACs, including encapsulation efficiency, release behavior, characteristics, applications, and responses to various chemical and physical stimuli (both in vivo and in vitro). Furthermore, this review provides a comprehensive analysis of the effects of ACs NMs on several skin diseases, highlighting their potential as alternative treatments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Responsive Polymer Nanostructured Assemblies: Activity in Cancer Therapy)
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51 pages, 4394 KiB  
Review
Biomaterial-Based Responsive Nanomedicines for Targeting Solid Tumor Microenvironments
by Konstantinos Avgoustakis and Athina Angelopoulou
Pharmaceutics 2024, 16(2), 179; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics16020179 - 26 Jan 2024
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1737
Abstract
Solid tumors are composed of a highly complex and heterogenic microenvironment, with increasing metabolic status. This environment plays a crucial role in the clinical therapeutic outcome of conventional treatments and innovative antitumor nanomedicines. Scientists have devoted great efforts to conquering the challenges of [...] Read more.
Solid tumors are composed of a highly complex and heterogenic microenvironment, with increasing metabolic status. This environment plays a crucial role in the clinical therapeutic outcome of conventional treatments and innovative antitumor nanomedicines. Scientists have devoted great efforts to conquering the challenges of the tumor microenvironment (TME), in respect of effective drug accumulation and activity at the tumor site. The main focus is to overcome the obstacles of abnormal vasculature, dense stroma, extracellular matrix, hypoxia, and pH gradient acidosis. In this endeavor, nanomedicines that are targeting distinct features of TME have flourished; these aim to increase site specificity and achieve deep tumor penetration. Recently, research efforts have focused on the immune reprograming of TME in order to promote suppression of cancer stem cells and prevention of metastasis. Thereby, several nanomedicine therapeutics which have shown promise in preclinical studies have entered clinical trials or are already in clinical practice. Various novel strategies were employed in preclinical studies and clinical trials. Among them, nanomedicines based on biomaterials show great promise in improving the therapeutic efficacy, reducing side effects, and promoting synergistic activity for TME responsive targeting. In this review, we focused on the targeting mechanisms of nanomedicines in response to the microenvironment of solid tumors. We describe responsive nanomedicines which take advantage of biomaterials’ properties to exploit the features of TME or overcome the obstacles posed by TME. The development of such systems has significantly advanced the application of biomaterials in combinational therapies and in immunotherapies for improved anticancer effectiveness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Responsive Polymer Nanostructured Assemblies: Activity in Cancer Therapy)
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21 pages, 2478 KiB  
Review
Microneedles for Efficient and Precise Drug Delivery in Cancer Therapy
by Keisheni Ganeson, Ain Hafizah Alias, Vikneswaran Murugaiyah, Al-Ashraf Abdullah Amirul, Seeram Ramakrishna and Sevakumaran Vigneswari
Pharmaceutics 2023, 15(3), 744; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15030744 - 23 Feb 2023
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3687
Abstract
Cancer is the leading cause of death, acting as a global burden, severely impacting the patients’ quality of life and affecting the world economy despite the expansion of cumulative advances in oncology. The current conventional therapies for cancer which involve long treatment duration [...] Read more.
Cancer is the leading cause of death, acting as a global burden, severely impacting the patients’ quality of life and affecting the world economy despite the expansion of cumulative advances in oncology. The current conventional therapies for cancer which involve long treatment duration and systemic exposure of drugs leads to premature degradation of drugs, a massive amount of pain, side effects, as well as the recurrence of the condition. There is also an urgent demand for personalized and precision-based medicine, especially after the recent pandemic, to avoid future delays in diagnosis or treatments for cancer patients as they are very essential in reducing the global mortality rate. Recently, microneedles which consist of a patch with tiny, micron-sized needles attached to it have been quite a sensation as an emerging technology for transdermal application to diagnose or treat various illnesses. The application of microneedles in cancer therapies is also being extensively studied as they offer a myriad of benefits, especially since microneedle patches offer a better treatment approach through self administration, painless treatment, and being an economically and environmentally friendly approach in comparison with other conventional methods. The painless gains from microneedles significantly improves the survival rate of cancer patients. The emergence of versatile and innovative transdermal drug delivery systems presents a prime breakthrough opportunity for safer and more effective therapies, which could meet the demands of cancer diagnosis and treatment through different application scenarios. This review highlights the types of microneedles, fabrication methods and materials, along with the recent advances and opportunities. In addition, this review also addresses the challenges and limitations of microneedles in cancer therapy with solutions through current studies and future works to facilitate the clinical translation of microneedles in cancer therapies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Responsive Polymer Nanostructured Assemblies: Activity in Cancer Therapy)
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