Dear Colleagues,

Nanotechnology has received considerable attention in many fields of science due to its unique properties during the last few decades. Nanoparticle-based drug delivery vehicles such as liposomes, polymer-drug conjugates, micelles, and dendrimers have been employed to prepare formulations of various medicinal molecules to enhance drug solubility, controlled release, dissolution, targeting delivery, and bioavailability. To date, new active molecules of biological and synthetic origin have been discovered, but faced with tremendous delivery challenges from conventional formulation strategies, especially regarding environmental and safety concerns. Therefore, in addition to the discovery of new drug molecules, elucidation of the structure–activity relationship, and study of pharmacology, novel nanocarriers are harnessed to enhance the design, efficacy, and safety of nano-formulations to reduce systemic side effects and improve the therapeutic index of drug molecules by specifically targeting organs, tissues, and individual cells.

This Special Issue aims to publish research related to cancer diagnosis and therapy, drug delivery systems, gene vehicles, nanobiotechnology, especially synthesis and characterization of polymeric nanomaterials, design of vectors of drugs, proteins and genes, imaging technology, small molecule self-assembly. We hope to explore the connection between medicinal chemistry to nanotechnology, advances of technology used in drug and understand the physicochemical properties and biological behavior of nanocarriers.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Nanoscience in drug delivery
• Supramolecular chemistry
• Photochemistry
• Biomaterials
• Imaging technology
• Targeting delivery
• Medicinal chemistry

We are pleased to invite you to submit your valuable work to this Special Issue. From your contributions, we hope for novel strategies that can target tumors or other deep tissues, improve the penetration and accumulation of drugs in the targeted site, and evaluate the physical and chemical properties of the drugs delivered.

I look forward to receiving your contributions. 

Prof. Dr. Shaofeng Duan
Dr. Bingyang Shi
Prof. Dr. Yurong Hu
Dr. Jiawei Dong
Prof. Dr. Gen Zhang
Guest Editors

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• nanoscience
• polymers
• photochemistry
• biomaterials
• imaging
• targeting drug delivery