Nanoparticles for Local Drug Delivery, 2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

Despite increasing advances in the design and development of modern drug delivery systems and technologies, the effective treatment of many diseases/disorders such as cancer, neurodegenerative and neuromuscular disorders, inflammatory diseases, and infections (to name a few) still remains a major challenge due to the presence of restrictive biological barriers (such as the mucosal epithelium in the intestine; the lungs, nose and mouth; the skin; the blood–brain barrier; the blood–retinal barrier, etc.). For delivering a sufficient therapeutic concentration of a drug at the intended site of action (diseased organ/tissue/target cells) in a predictable/controlled manner, thereby avoiding/reducing off-site toxicity and systemic adverse effects, local drug delivery strategies have been established to be a promising approach. Recently, significant progress has been made in the field of local drug delivery, achieved either through local or systemic administration (targeted/triggered approach), largely due to the implementation of nanoparticles. Although diverse types of nanoparticles (lipid-based, polymeric, metallic, carbon nanotubes, dendrimers, etc.) have been developed for local/targeted/triggered delivery of various therapeutics (anticancer drugs, central nervous system drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, antimicrobial agents, hormones, nucleic acids, etc.) via different routes of administration (e.g., intratumoral, intra-articular, (intra)nasal, (intra)ocular, (trans)dermal, (intra)oral, oromucosal, sublingual, dental, pulmonary/inhalation, vaginal/uterine, etc.), additional efforts are required to optimize drug incorporation and release, formulation stability and shelf-life, biocompatibility, safety, biodistribution, and targeting, giving this topic permanent and growing interest.

We invite researchers to share their ideas, insights, and perspectives from the dynamic landscape of nanoparticles for local drug delivery, covering a wide range of topics related to the following areas (among others): the formulation and optimization of drug-containing nanoparticles, passive/active targeting and triggering approaches for site-specific or site-avoidance drug delivery, controlled release mechanisms and kinetics, in vitro/in vivo fate and interactions with the biological environment, biocompatibility and safety assessments, clinical applications, and translational research.

Dr. Sanela Savic
Dr. Tanja Ilić
Prof. Dr. Snezana Savic
Guest Editors

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