Self-Assembled Polymer Nanoparticles for Tumor Imaging and Therapy

Dear Colleagues,

In this century, nanoparticles (NPs) have been given a great amount of attention by biomedical researchers. NPs can disperse hydrophobic drugs stably in aqueous conditions without aggregation. Importantly, their physicochemical properties, including size and surface charge, can easily be modified by adjusting the component molecules or fabrication method. NPs can delay the early release of drugs in order to allow sufficient time for therapeutic action.

In terms of tumor-targeting, NPs utilize two basic strategies comprising either passive or active targeting. Passive targeting is based on physicochemical properties. Specifically, when NPs are injected intravenously, they generally circulate longer in the blood stream compared to free drugs. In angiogenic tissues such as tumors, NPs penetrate the fenestrated structure of blood vessels more at the disease site, which in turn leads to significant accumulation of the drug, which is aided in part by slow lymphatic drainage. On the other hand, active targeting relies on a biological interaction between ligands on the surface of NPs and the cell target, which further increase specificity.

Considering these advantages of NPs as carriers, this Special Issue on "Self-Assembled Polymer Nanoparticles for Tumor Imaging and Therapy" will explore the biomedical application of NPs based on polymers and targeted to tumors.

Prof. Heebeom Koo
Guest Editor

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 short 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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. 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.