Molecular Mechanisms of Drug Delivery in Ophthalmology

A Special Issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409) belonging to the section "Tissues and Organs".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2026) | Viewed by 728

Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacy Sciences, School of Pharmacy & Health Professions, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
Interests: design and evaluation of novel drug delivery systems; preformulation studies; solid-state characterization of drugs and dosage forms; pharmaceutical analysis utilizing the following techniques: HPLC, GC, GC-MS, thermoanalytical methods, IR, powder X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy; evaluation and design of dosage forms for nutraceuticals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacy Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
Interests: neurodegenerative diseases; mechanism of neurite outgrowth; novel drug delivery; ocular drug delivery; ocular gene delivery; brain delivery; ocular pharmacokinetics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Even in the face of all developmental progress, overcoming one of the critical factors in drug delivery to the eye—the genuine uniqueness of the eye's anatomical and physiological barriers—remains a major challenge. The corneal epithelium, blood–aqueous barrier, and blood–retinal barrier, together with the physiological clearance process, serve as defense mechanisms, leading to low drug concentrations and high accumulation in other parts of the eye. Therefore, in search of solutions to these problems, researchers' goal is to develop new methods, such as nanocarriers, hydrogel systems, and targeted delivery systems. The knowledge of molecular mechanisms involved in drug transport, retention, and cellular interactions in the modification of these treatment methods is of primary importance for ophthalmic treatment progress and improved therapeutic effects.

This Special Issue is planned to provide not only a comprehensive probe into the molecular and biophysical aspects of ophthalmological drug transport but also its experimental cytology. Topics of interest include the following:

  • Molecular interactions in ocular drug delivery;
  • Nanotechnology-based drug carriers for ophthalmic applications;
  • Transport mechanisms across ocular barriers;
  • Biophysical properties affecting drug absorption and distribution;
  • Strategies to enhance drug retention and bioavailability;
  • Advances in targeted drug delivery at the molecular level;
  • Advances in gene delivery in the eye.

We welcome original research and review articles that provide new insights into these processes and on their potential impacts on future ophthalmic therapies.

Prof. Dr. Alekha K. Dash
Dr. Surabhi Shukla
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cells is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • drug delivery
  • ophthalmology
  • nanocarriers
  • ocular barriers
  • molecular transport
  • targeted therapy
  • ocular gene delivery

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Review

46 pages, 2818 KB  
Review
Liposomal Drug Delivery in Ocular Therapy: Strategies for Enhancing Corneal Penetration and Bioavailability
by Palak Mehta, Erik Moore, Alekha Dash and Surabhi Shukla
Cells 2026, 15(17), 1534; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells15171534 - 26 Aug 2026
Viewed by 336
Abstract
Vision impairment affects approximately 2.2 billion people worldwide, with glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, fungal keratitis, and diabetic retinopathy among the leading causes of preventable blindness. Effective pharmacotherapy remains severely constrained by the eye’s multilayered barrier architecture. Tear film, the corneal epithelium, the blood–aqueous [...] Read more.
Vision impairment affects approximately 2.2 billion people worldwide, with glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, fungal keratitis, and diabetic retinopathy among the leading causes of preventable blindness. Effective pharmacotherapy remains severely constrained by the eye’s multilayered barrier architecture. Tear film, the corneal epithelium, the blood–aqueous barrier, and the blood–retinal barrier collectively restrict conventional topical drug bioavailability to less than 5% of the administered dose. Liposomal drug delivery systems have emerged as a clinically translatable platform capable of overcoming these barriers through targeted surface modification. This review provides a brief introduction to ocular barriers to drug delivery and transport and critically examines numerous surface-modification strategies applied to liposomal carriers to enhance corneal permeation and ocular bioavailability of drugs. It highlights the advantages and disadvantages of each modification strategy, as well as the convergent mechanism of liposomal surface modification in overcoming ocular barriers, and provides a comparative analysis of different surface-modification strategies of liposomes in terms of safety, efficacy and corneal retention. Additionally, it describes challenges associated with liposomal ophthalmic formulations in industrial scaling up. The review also sheds light on some FDA-approved liposomal ophthalmic products, active clinical trials on liposomal formulations, and relevant patents, demonstrating the potential benefits of liposomal drug delivery in the treatment of ocular disorders. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Mechanisms of Drug Delivery in Ophthalmology)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop