Impact of Nanoparticles on Drug Delivery
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinal Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2023) | Viewed by 3745
Special Issue Editors
Interests: nanotechnology; cancer research; stem cells; extracellular vesicles; gene and cell therapy; imaging; viral vectors
Interests: materials chemistry; nanostructured materials; molecular electronics; graphene; 2D materials; self-assembled monolayers; scanning probe microscopies
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Delivering drugs at a controlled rate, targeted delivery and other very attractive methods have been pursued in the last decade with the aim of controlling the bioavailability, pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic profile of therapeutics.
In this context, nanotechnology has presented efficient drug delivery systems (DDSs) based on both synthetic and natural sources. In fact, there is growing interest in the use of naturally occurring compounds as alternative strategies in the prevention and/or treatment of several pathologies thanks to their safety, which may avoid a portion of the side effects.
Nanotechnology has the potential to overcome the limitations of conventional drug delivery, from biodistribution and intracellular trafficking, thanks to the feasibility of engineering cell-specific targeting, to improving the stability and solubility of the cargo, molecular transport to specific parts of the cell, increasing safety and efficacy and more.
These delivery vehicles have been used since the 1990s, with many reaching clinical trials and some of them being approved for different indications. Although many clinically approved nanoparticle formulations are used in treating several types of cancers, other formulations are applied as iron‐replacement nanoparticle therapies, imaging agents, vaccines, anesthetics, fungal treatments and for treatment of macular degeneration. While the majority of nano-delivery systems in clinical trials are based on technologies that are long‐established or already approved, still, a fraction of these formulations is focused on chemical‐targeting or stimuli‐responsive therapeutic release. Thus, the development of new strategies of synthesis for more efficient and/or more complex systems is essential.
Despite the extensive research in this area, the number of nanomedicines available to patients is significantly below projections for the field, partially because of a translational gap between animal and human studies but also because of the heterogeneity amongst patients. Additionally, for the majority of these formulations in the pre-clinical and clinical setting, information regarding their bioaccumulation and toxicity is still insufficient, together with the biological and technological challenges that impact the clinical success of nanoparticle delivery systems. Nonetheless, the interest in and pursuit of successful nanoparticle technologies in the field of drug delivery continues.
For this Special Issue, we are looking for original research articles and state-of-the-art reviews on novel or established structures at nanoscale level that have been able to overcome barriers encountered in the field of drug delivery, focusing on the studies that have allowed defining their key beneficial activities and discussing their potential applications in the clinical field.
Dr. Pilar Martin-Duque
Dr. Henrry Osorio
Dr. Rebeca González-Pastor
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- drug delivery
- nanoparticles
- stimuli-responsive nanoparticles
- functionalization
- targeted delivery
- novel nanomaterials
- combinatorial therapy
- nanostructures as vehicles
- systemic toxicity
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