Membrane Transport and Drug Permeation

A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923). This special issue belongs to the section "Drug Targeting and Design".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 533

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA 91766, USA
Interests: liposomes; targeted delivery; nanoparticles; transport

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Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacy Sciences, School of Pharmacy & Health Professions, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
Interests: design and evaluation of novel drug delivery systems; preformulation studies; solid-state characterization of drugs and dosage forms; pharmaceutical analysis utilizing the following techniques: HPLC, GC, GC-MS, thermoanalytical methods, IR, powder X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy; evaluation and design of dosage forms for nutraceuticals
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce a Special Issue of Pharmaceutics focused on “Membrane Transport and Drug Permeation”. This issue aims to showcase research that explores mechanisms and applications of membrane transport in drug delivery and highlights its significance in drug development and clinical practice.

We welcome original research articles or reviews that address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

  • Mechanisms: Passive diffusion, facilitated diffusion, active transport, and vesicular transport mechanisms in drug permeation.
  • Emerging Technologies: Advances in techniques for studying membrane transport, such as high-throughput screening and computational modeling.
  • In Vitro and In Vivo Models: Experimental models studying drug transport, such as cell cultures, artificial membranes, and animal models.
  • Drug Delivery Strategies: Nanoparticle-based and targeted drug delivery approaches exploiting membrane transport mechanisms.

We encourage researchers from various disciplines to contribute to this Special Issue.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Maria Lambros
Prof. Dr. Alekha K. Dash
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • drug permeation
  • membrane transporter
  • membrane transport
  • ABC transporter
  • targeted delivery
  • membrane-transport protein
  • blood-brain barrier
  • solute carrier
  • ATP-binding cassette family (ABC) transporters
  • drug delivery

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

31 pages, 1459 KiB  
Review
Insights on Natural Membrane Characterization for the Rational Design of Biomimetic Drug Delivery Systems
by Daniela Donghia, Sara Baldassari, Giuliana Drava, Giorgia Ailuno and Gabriele Caviglioli
Pharmaceutics 2025, 17(7), 841; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics17070841 - 27 Jun 2025
Viewed by 133
Abstract
Cell membranes are vital for living organisms and serve as a dynamic barrier between the internal and external environments. They are composed of a complex lipid bilayer embedded with proteins, allowing them to perform multiple functions like maintaining the cell structure, regulating which [...] Read more.
Cell membranes are vital for living organisms and serve as a dynamic barrier between the internal and external environments. They are composed of a complex lipid bilayer embedded with proteins, allowing them to perform multiple functions like maintaining the cell structure, regulating which substances enter or leave the cell, and intercellular communication. Cellular functions are inherently linked to their membrane properties, and the heterogeneous nature of cell membranes makes the study of their physico-chemical properties extremely challenging. This review is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of the composition and physical features of the cell membrane, by focusing on the lipid and protein composition, and on the physical properties (like membrane stiffness or fluidity), highlighting how these characteristics influence cell functions. An insight into the similarities and differences from the membranes of extracellular vesicles (naturally secreted by almost all cell types) is also provided. The understanding of the physico-chemical properties of cell membranes might find application in different therapeutic fields, like disease diagnosis and development of novel drug delivery systems. Therefore, an overview of the literature works describing the rational design of biomimetic drug delivery systems is presented, focusing on the choice of lipid components, frequently inspired by the study of the composition of naturally secreted exosomes, and on the physical characterization of the systems. In the future, in-depth study of biologic vesicles might lead to the development of promising formulation for drug delivery, possibly enhancing the therapeutic outcomes of many pathologies, like cancer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membrane Transport and Drug Permeation)
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