Multifunctional Nanoparticles for Dual Drug Release

Dear Colleagues,

Combination therapies have long been adopted as strategies to overcome drug resistance. The general principle of combination therapy is the administration of more than one drug, with an independent mechanism of action, with the aim to enhance the efficiency of the treatment. The concept of combination therapy was first introduced in the treatment of tuberculosis to reduce the risk of resistance. However, it was not until the 1960s that this approach was proposed for the fight against cancer chemoresistance. For an optimal performance, the implementation of such therapies requires the delivery of the correct combination of drugs to a specific cellular target, which minimize undesirable side-effects. In this context, the use of nanoparticles (NPs) as platforms for the co-delivery of multiple drugs have emerged as a promising strategy. A wide range of nanoparticles has been proposed to design these delivery systems, such as metallic NPs, polymeric NPs and carbon NPs. A recent example of a dual drug release system in the treatment of microbial infections, is the combination of silver nanoparticles with antibiotics. In the area of cancer, the very promising combination of antitumoral small molecules with the highly sensitive siRNA should be highlighted. Unfortunately, despite the encouraging progress accomplished, there are still many practical aspects about the design, performance, safety and scalability of the nano-vehicles that need to be addressed in order to bring the concept into practice in the clinic. Hence, with the aim to foster innovative research in this field and share novel ideas, we invite you to contribute your research article, communication or review for this Special Issue.

Dr. David Sánchez-García
Guest Editor

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