Recent Advances in Drug Nanocarriers and Targeted Delivery Systems: From Liposomes to Block Copolymer Micelles
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pharmacology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 3564
Special Issue Editor
Interests: drug nanocarriers and targeted delivery systems; surfactants; mixed micelles; thermodynamic stability; micellar solubility; bile salts
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Historically speaking, liposomes are the first relatively stable thermodynamic systems to be applied as drug nanocarriers. Depending on the manufacturing process, liposomes can fall into multilamellar vesicles (MLVs), large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs), and small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs). In liposomes, the particles of the carried (accepted) drug (depending on the hydrophobicity) are located in an aqueous solution between lipid bilayers or in the lipid bilayer itself. Liposomes' permeability, stability, and capacity to accept a particular drug depend on the additive molecules. The presence of cholesterol increases the rigidity (reduces the permeability) of the phospholipid bilayer, while some proteins increase the mobility of the phospholipid layer. In the case of liposomes that are not molecularly improved in terms of specificity (selectivity) towards specific organs or tissues, the selectivity is primarily determined by the size of the liposomes themselves (i.e., they are of the MLV, LUV, or SUV type) and the pores on the capillaries of the endothelium of specific organs (the pores must be a sufficient size for liposomes from the bloodstream to be received in a given organ). The size of the liposomes gives a relatively good selectivity in the targeted delivery of the drug to the liver and spleen. However, the selectivity towards other organs is weak.
Over time, the outer surfaces of liposomes accumulate antibodies specific to the antigens of certain cells (tissues), or glycoproteins or glycolipids are attached, which also bind to a specific sugar component on the inner side of certain cells. Therefore, by using specific molecules on the surface of liposomes and controlling their sizes, it is possible to achieve the selective delivery of a particular drug to the target cells.
With the development and automation of organic synthesis, block copolymers appeared that, in an aqueous solution, can form micelles with a hydrophobic core where a hydrophobic drug is incorporated. Micellar block copolymers (with the incorporated drugs) are in equilibrium with non-micellar polymer particles. Therefore, in the bloodstream, due to the dilution effect (excretion of non-micellar polymers by the kidneys), the block polymer micelles are disintegrated, causing the drug’s release. The more thermodynamically stable the polymer micelle, the longer the drug release lasts. The specificity of a block copolymer micelle for a particular tissue can be achieved if a specific structural segment for a cell receptor from a given tissue is incorporated into the polymer structure. Drug release can be modified by the molecular segment that changes conformation due to a temperature increase, referred to as smart drug delivery systems (SDDSs).
What kind of papers we are soliciting: In this Special Issue, we expect articles that discuss the rational design of liposomes, both ordinary and those with molecular recognition of specific cellular receptors. We are interested in receiving papers which explore the correlation between molecular additives and liposome structure (characterization with appropriate structural instrumental methods) and stability; the application of micellar block copolymers—the influence of block copolymer structure on micellization equilibrium (with the incorporated drug) and in vivo drug release; and work toward increasing the selectivity of block copolymer micelles (SDDS). We also welcome papers which discuss the application of computers (molecular dynamics, docking, etc.) in the design of new block copolymers and those that explore whether the micelles and binary micelles of classical surfactants be additionally stabilized by employing polymer molecules (additives) to have the same efficiency as micellar block copolymers. Manuscripts can be in the form of original papers or review articles.
Prof. Dr. Mihalj Poŝa
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- rational design and fabrication of liposomes
- receptor-specific liposomes
- structural instrumental methods in liposome descriptions
- block copolymer micelles
- the thermodynamic stability of micellar block copolymers and with the incorporated drug
- smart drug delivery systems
- targeted synthesis of new block copolymers
- bioavailability and in vivo testing of nanocarrier medicines
