Nanoparticles: A Salvage to Overcome Drug Resistant Cancer and Infectious Diseases
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinal Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 2789
Special Issue Editor
Interests: drug delivery; nanovaccines; drug resistance; nanotechnology; cancer chemotherapy; pathogens; immunomodulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In recent years, there have been great advances in treatment strategies for tackling various infectious diseases. With the introduction of chemotherapeutic stratagems in the recent past, pharmaceutical companies were complacent in thinking that miniscule creatures would not fight back. As a consequence, most pharmaceutical industries stopped research on the further development of antibiotics. However, microbes minimize the antibiotic onslaught by developing resistant strains. In addition to the emergence of drug-resistant pathogens, the arrival of unconventional infectious agents and troubles in the development of new therapies using traditional pharmacological tactics have led to a situation where more research on the development of prophylactic strategies has emerged as the best way to control infectious diseases.
The continuous onslaught of various microbial pathogens in the human host, especially against the background of antibiotic ineffectiveness, can be considered as the main driving force behind the earliest forays into the study of the intricacies of improving drug efficacy. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the newly introduced drug molecules will not meet the same fate and be neutralized by the microbes.
The pharmacokinetics of a drug molecule in the host are considered crucial in regulating its effectiveness against a disease. Interestingly, it can be speculated that advancement in the field of nanotechnology can be exploited in altering the pharmacokinetic behavior of drug molecules, to the extent that drug resistance and other treatment-related issues can be tackled.
In general, infections alter the constitution of basic immune machinery and put the host at risk for contracting more infections. It is enticing to consider the fact that the stimulation of an individual’s defensive immunological response towards a specific pathogen prevents the development of any sort of infection in the vaccinated person. The basis of vaccination is the exposure to a whole pathogen or part of its structural components to trigger an immune response in the recipient. The induction of a pathogen-directed adaptive immune response generates ‘immunological memory’ in terms of the induction of memory B and T cells. In this regard, it is tempting to speculate that nanovaccines create long-lasting immunity, lasting for several years or even a lifetime.
Being particulate in nature, the nanoparticle-encapsulated antigen can be rapidly taken up by macrophages and stimulate the presentation and processing of the entrapped antigen, eventually leading to cross presentation to dendritic cells and, in turn, increased T cell stimulation and proliferation, antibody production, increased central T cell memory, and the effector immune response, all of which ultimately offer better protection against the parent infectious agent.
It is tempting to speculate that nanoparticle-based drug and antigen delivery systems will pave the way for novel technology, leading to effective treatments and prophylactic strategies against infectious diseases. Interestingly, the proposed approach can also be extended to cancer chemotherapy and vaccines.
Prof. Dr. Mohammad Owais
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- drug delivery
- nanovaccines
- drug resistance
- nanotechnology
- cancer chemotherapy
- pathogens
- immunomodulation
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