Nano Drug Carriers
A special issue of Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2018) | Viewed by 63030
Special Issue Editor
Interests: functional liposomes; functional dendritic polymers; nano-sized drug delivery systems; drug targeting; triggered drug release
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Since the introduction of the “magic bullet” concept by Paul Ehrlich in 1900, medicinal research has focused on developing pharmaceuticals that have the property of being directed towards specific targets of the body so as to increase therapeutic outcome and/or reduce side effects. From the early days, it was realized that the route of administration can yield different therapeutic results, initiating research on drug delivery. Drug delivery systems have therefore been introduced as a means to control drug biodistribution and reduce non-specific localization. The concept of drug carriers that can encapsulate a bioactive compound, increasing its solubility and its physicochemical stability, evade the attack of the immune system, finally find the target and release their payload in a controlled fashion, had limited success in the past but was largely reinvigorated with the advent of nanotechnology. Nano-sized drug delivery systems have been widely studied during the last three decades, engaging scientists of very different backgrounds, from chemists and material scientists to biologists and medical doctors. The renewed optimism in the field brought about by the introduction of nanoscience and nanotechnology in medicine, gave rise to the pursuit of additional goals such as triggered release, enhanced cell membrane permeation and, even, subcellular targeting. To date, more than fifty nanotherapeutics/nanoformulations have been approved, primarily based on liposomes, polymeric micelles or PEGylated peptides/proteins, and even more are currently under clinical investigation. One may argue that, despite great research efforts, relatively few systems are currently on the market, but this will change due to ongoing research, exploring new ways to evade the immune system, and identifying and targeting new cell receptors related to diseases. Further advances are anticipated by the use of appropriate mathematical modeling and computer science, including artificial neural networks, that are emerging to facilitate further understanding of the complex processes related to drug delivery.
In this Special Issue of Pharmaceuticals, both research, mini-review and review articles advancing our knowledge on nano-sized drug delivery systems are invited. Topics include, but are not limited to, theoretical and experimental research on the synthesis and development of nanocarriers or nanoformulations, their physicochemical and biological characterization, nanoparticle interaction with the immune system, computational modeling of nanoparticle drug delivery, in vitro and in vivo studies, preclinical and clinical studies, as well as safety issues regarding their production, handling and disposal.
Dr. Dimitris TsiourvasGuest Editor
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Keywords
- nano-sized systems
- drug encapsulation
- drug targeting
- biodistribution
- controlled release
- triggered release
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