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Recent Developments and Emerging Trends in Nanomedicine

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A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanomedicine and Nanotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 27327

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Prof. Dr. Xiangyang Shi

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State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Donghua University, Shanghai, China
Interests: dendrimers; gold nanoparticles; magnetic nanoparticles; imaging; drug delivery; gene delivery; theranostics; tumors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Longping Wen

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School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
Interests: nanomedicine; drug delivery; engineered nanomaterials; autophagy; inflammasome; cancer; neural degeneration

Dr. Huile Gao

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Key Laboratory of Drug Targeting and Drug Delivery Systems, West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, No. 17, Block 3, Southern Renmin Road, Chengdu 610041, China
Interests: brain targeting drug delivery; microenvironment sensitive drug delivery systems

Prof. Dr. Jianxun Ding

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Key Laboratory of Polymer Ecomaterials, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 5625 Renmin Street, Changchun 130022, China
Interests: polymer chemistry; self-assembly; nanoparticle; hydrogel; scaffold; biomaterial; controlled drug delivery; immunotherapy; regenerative medicine
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear colleague,

Rapid advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology have paved the way for the development of a wide variety of emerging nanomaterials and related technologies to diagnose and fight against many life-threatening diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegeneration, inflammatory diseases, infection, and metabolic disorders. Through the practical design of nanoplatforms, various imaging and/or therapeutic agents can be physically loaded or chemically conjugated onto the platforms to optimally exert their functionalities of diagnosis, therapy, and theranostics of diseases. Moreover, special nanosized materials and devices with the ability to modulate key biological processes can be engineered as direct-acting diagnostic or therapeutic agents. This themed issue entitled “Recent Developments and Emerging Trends in Nanomedicine” brings together some of the world's foremost experts to discuss the current development, prospects, and clinical translation potential in this area of nanomedicine.

The potential topics for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

Precision diagnostic nanoplatforms;
Nanobiosensors;
Nanoscale drug/gene delivery nanosystems;
Stimuli-responsive nanoparticles for controlled drug release;
Emerging nanotechnologies for cancer therapy;
Phototherapy nanoformulations;
Nanoparticles for chemo and radiosensitization;
Immunomodulatory nanosystems;
Combinational nanotherapeutics;
Theranostic nanomedicines;
Nanoenzymes;
Multidrug resistance reversal nanosystems;
Regenerative medicine nanoplatforms;
Nanoscale medical devices;
Special safety concerns for nanomedicine.

Prof. Dr. Xiangyang Shi
Prof. Dr. Longping Wen
Dr. Huile Gao
Dr. Jianxun Ding
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmaceutics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 5674 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exosome-Modified Liposomes Targeted Delivery of Thalidomide to Regulate Treg Cells for Antitumor Immunotherapy

by Yang Yang, Qingfu Wang, Huimin Zou, Chon-Kit Chou and Xin Chen

Pharmaceutics 2023, 15(4), 1074; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15041074 - 27 Mar 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1611

Abstract

Thalidomide (THD), a synthetic derivative of glutamic acid, was initially used as a sedative and antiemetic until the 1960s, when it was found to cause devastating teratogenic effects. However, subsequent studies have clearly demonstrated the anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic, and immunomodulatory properties of thalidomide, thus providing a rationale for its current use in the treatment of various autoimmune diseases and cancers. Our group found that thalidomide can suppress the regulatory T cells (Tregs), a minor subset of CD4⁺ T cells (~10%) with unique immunosuppressive activity that have been shown to accumulate in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and represent a major mechanism of tumor immune evasion. Due to the low solubility of thalidomide in its present form of administration, coupled with its lack of specificity for targeted delivery and controlled drug release, it is an urgent need to find potent delivery methods that can significantly enhance its solubility, optimize the desired site of drug action, and mitigate its toxicity. In this study, the isolated exosomes were incubated with synthetic liposomes to form hybrid exosomes (HEs) that carried THD (HE-THD) with uniform size distribution. The results demonstrated that HE-THD could significantly abrogate the expansion and proliferation of Tregs induced by TNF, and this might result from blocking TNF-TNFR2 interaction. By encapsulating THD in hybrid exosomes, our drug delivery system successfully increased the solubility of THD, laying a foundation for future in vivo experiments that validate the antitumor activity of HE-THD by reducing the Treg frequency within the tumor microenvironment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments and Emerging Trends in Nanomedicine)

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15 pages, 6566 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Reduction-Responsive Stearyl Alcohol-Cabazitaxel Prodrug Nanoassemblies for Cancer Chemotherapy

by Yuting Liu, Xinhui Wang, Zhe Wang, Rui Liao, Qian Qiu, Yuequan Wang and Cong Luo

Pharmaceutics 2023, 15(1), 262; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15010262 - 12 Jan 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1394

Abstract

Cabazitaxel (CTX) has distinct therapeutic merits for advanced and metastatic cancer. However, the present clinical formulation (Jevtana^®) has several defects, especially for undesirable tumor-targeting and serious side effects, greatly limiting the therapeutic efficacy. Small-molecule prodrug-based nanoassemblies integrate the advantages of both prodrug strategy and nanotechnology, emerging as a promising treatment modality. Herein, disulfide bonds with different lengths were employed as linkages to elaborately synthesize three redox-sensitive stearyl alcohol (SAT)-CTX prodrug-based nanoassemblies (SAC NPs, SBC NPs and SGC NPs) for seeking optimal chemotherapeutical treatment. All the prodrug-based nanoassemblies exhibited impressive drug-loading efficiency, superior self-assembly capability and excellent colloidal stability. Interestingly, the drug release behaviors of three prodrug-nanoassemblies in the same reductive environment were different owing to tiny changes in the carbon chain length of disulfide bonds, resulting in disparate cytotoxicity effects, pharmacokinetic outcomes and in vivo antitumor efficacies. Among them, SAC NPs displayed rapid drug release, excellent cytotoxicity, long blood circulation and enhanced tumor accumulation, thus showing strong tumor inhibition in the 4T1-bearing mouse model. Our study shed light on the vital role of connecting bonds in designing high-efficiency, low-toxicity prodrug nanoassemblies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments and Emerging Trends in Nanomedicine)

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24 pages, 4214 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Comparative Study of Quercetin-Loaded Nanocochleates and Liposomes: Formulation, Characterization, Assessment of Degradation and In Vitro Anticancer Potential

by Neha Munot, Ujjwala Kandekar, Prabhanjan S. Giram, Kavita Khot, Abhinandan Patil and Simona Cavalu

Pharmaceutics 2022, 14(8), 1601; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics14081601 - 31 Jul 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2569

Abstract

Quercetin, a flavonoid, has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and the potential to inhibit the proliferation of cancer, but its therapeutic efficacy is lowered due to poor solubility and bioavailability. Quercetin-loaded nanocochleates (QN) were developed using a trapping method by the addition of calcium ions into preformed negatively charged liposomes (QL) prepared by a thin-film hydration method. Liposomes were optimized by varying the concentration of Dimyristoyl phosphatidyl glycerol and quercetin by applying D-optimal factorial design using Design-Expert^® software. Stable rods were observed using TEM with an average particle size, zeta potential and encapsulation efficiency of 502 nm, −18.52 mV and 88.62%, respectively, for QN which were developed from spherical QL showing 111.06 nm, −40.33 mV and 74.2%, respectively. In vitro release of quercetin from QN and QL was extended to 24 h. Poor bioavailability of quercetin is due to its degradation in the liver, so to mimic in vivo conditions, the degradation of quercetin released from QL and QN was studied in the presence of rat liver homogenate (S9G) and results revealed that QN, due to its unique structure, i.e., series of rolled up solid layers, shielded quercetin from the external environment and protected it. The safety and biocompatibility of QL and QN were provenby performing cytotoxicity studies on fibroblast L929 cell lines. QN showed superior anticancer activity compared to QL, as seen for human mouth cancerKB cell lines. Stability studies proved that nanocochleates were more stable than liposomal formulations. Thus, nanocochleates might serve as pharmaceutical nanocarriers for the improved efficacy of drugs with low aqueous solubility, poor bioavailability, poor targeting ability and stability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments and Emerging Trends in Nanomedicine)

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18 pages, 6944 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Nanotopographical 3D-Printed Poly(ε-caprolactone) Scaffolds Enhance Proliferation and Osteogenic Differentiation of Urine-Derived Stem Cells for Bone Regeneration

by Fei Xing, Hua-Mo Yin, Man Zhe, Ji-Chang Xie, Xin Duan, Jia-Zhuang Xu, Zhou Xiang and Zhong-Ming Li

Pharmaceutics 2022, 14(7), 1437; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics14071437 - 08 Jul 2022

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2113

Abstract

3D-printing technology can be used to construct personalized bone substitutes with customized shapes, but it cannot regulate the topological morphology of the scaffold surface, which plays a vital role in regulating the biological behaviors of stem cells. In addition, stem cells are able to sense the topographical and mechanical cues of surface of scaffolds by mechanosensing and mechanotransduction. In our study, we fabricated a 3D-printed poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) scaffold with a nanotopographical surface and loaded it with urine-derived stem cells (USCs) for application of bone regeneration. The topological 3D-printed PCL scaffolds (TPS) fabricated by surface epiphytic crystallization, possessed uniformly patterned nanoridges, of which the element composition and functional groups of nanoridges were the same as PCL. Compared with bare 3D-printed PCL scaffolds (BPS), TPS have a higher ability for protein adsorption and mineralization in vitro. The proliferation, cell length, and osteogenic gene expression of USCs on the surface of TPS were significantly higher than that of BPS. In addition, the TPS loaded with USCs exhibited a good ability for bone regeneration in cranial bone defects. Our study demonstrated that nanotopographical 3D-printed scaffolds loaded with USCs are a safe and effective therapeutic strategy for bone regeneration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments and Emerging Trends in Nanomedicine)

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13 pages, 3701 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Galactosed and Reduction-Responsive Nanoparticles Assembled from Trimethylchitosan–Camptothecin Conjugates for Enhanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Therapy

by Chen Fu, Jingcan Qin, Xinlong Liu and Fei Kong

Pharmaceutics 2022, 14(7), 1315; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics14071315 - 21 Jun 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1359

Abstract

The targeted delivery of drugs to tumor cells and prevention of premature release before reaching the target is one of the key challenges to developing nanomedicines. In this paper, galactose decorated trimethyl chitosan (GT)–camptothecin (CPT) prodrug nanoparticles (GT-ss-CPT NPs) were prepared from GT-CPT conjugates linked by dithiodipropionic acid. The obtained GT-ss-CPT NPs were spherical with a particle size of 184.1 nm. GT-ss-CPT NPs displayed low drug release under physiological conditions, whereas efficient drug release was triggered by high GSH concentration. GT-ss-CPT NPs exhibited a higher antitumor effect both in vitro and in vivo than the free drug counterpart. More importantly, GT-ss-CPT NPs reduced the high systematic toxicity of CPT to tumor-bearing mice. In summary, GT-ss-CPT NPs can not only inhibit the premature release of CPT but also have a great potential for targeted hepatocellular carcinoma chemotherapy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments and Emerging Trends in Nanomedicine)

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19 pages, 6369 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Minocycline-Derived Silver Nanoparticles for Assessment of Their Antidiabetic Potential against Alloxan-Induced Diabetic Mice

by Syed Akif Raza Kazmi, Muhammad Zahid Qureshi, Sadia, Saleh S. Alhewairini, Shaukat Ali, Shazia Khurshid, Muhammad Saeed, Shumaila Mumtaz and Tafail Akbar Mughal

Pharmaceutics 2021, 13(10), 1678; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics13101678 - 14 Oct 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2264

Abstract

Diabetes is a life-threatening disease, and chronic diabetes affects parts of the body including the liver, kidney, and pancreas. The root cause of diabetes is mainly associated with oxidative stress produced by reactive oxygen species. Minocycline is a drug with a multi-substituted phenol ring and has shown excellent antioxidant activities. The objective of the present study was to investigate the antidiabetic potential of minocycline-modified silver nanoparticles (mino/AgNPs) against alloxan-induced diabetic mice. The mino/AgNPs were synthesized using minocycline as reducing and stabilizing agents. UV-visible, FT-IR, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were applied for the characterization of mino/AgNPs. A 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging assay was conducted to determine the antioxidant potential of newly synthesized mino/AgNPs. The results revealed that the mino/AgNPs showed higher radical scavenging activity (IC₅₀ = 19.7 µg/mL) compared to the minocycline (IC₅₀ = 26.0 µg/mL) and ascorbic acid (IC₅₀ = 25.2 µg/mL). Further, mino/AgNPs were successfully employed to examine their antidiabetic potential against alloxan-induced diabetic mice. Hematological results showed that the mice treated with mino/AgNPs demonstrated a significant decrease in fasting blood glucose level and lipid profile compared to the untreated diabetic group. A histopathological examination confirmed that the diabetic mice treated with mino/AgNPs showed significant recovery and revival of the histo-morphology of the kidney, central vein of the liver, and islet cells of the pancreas compared to the untreated diabetic mice. Hence, mino/AgNPs have good antidiabetic potential and could be an appropriate nanomedicine to prevent the development of diabetes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments and Emerging Trends in Nanomedicine)

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21 pages, 4077 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Engineered Exosomes-Based Photothermal Therapy with MRI/CT Imaging Guidance Enhances Anticancer Efficacy through Deep Tumor Nucleus Penetration

by Min Yang, Xiaohui Wang, Fang Pu, Ying Liu, Jia Guo, Shuzhuo Chang, Guoying Sun and Yinghua Peng

Pharmaceutics 2021, 13(10), 1593; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics13101593 - 30 Sep 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2235

Abstract

Exosomes, as natural nanovesicles, have become a spotlight in the field of cancer therapy due to their reduced immunogenicity and ability to overcome physiological barriers. However, the tumor targeting ability of exosomes needs to be improved before its actual application. Herein, a multiple targeted engineered exosomes nanoplatform was constructed through rare earth element Gd and Dy-doped and TAT peptide-modified carbon dots (CDs:Gd,Dy-TAT) encapsulated into RGD peptide engineered exosomes (Exo-RGD), which were used to enhance the effect of cancer imaging diagnosis and photothermal therapy. In vitro and in vivo experiments showed that the resulting CDs:Gd,Dy-TAT@Exo-RGD could effectively accumulate at cancer site with an increased concentration owing to the targeting peptides modification and exosomes encapsulation. The tumor therapy effects of mice treated with CDs:Gd,Dy-TAT@Exo-RGD were heightened compared with mice from the CDs:Gd,Dy control group. After intravenous injection of CDs:Gd,Dy-TAT@Exo-RGD into tumor-bearing mice, the temperature of tumors rose to above 50 °C under NIR irradiation and the localized hyperpyrexia induced by CDs could remarkably ablate tumors. The survival rate of the mice was 100% after 60 days. In addition, the CDs:Gd,Dy-TAT@Exo-RGD exhibited higher MRI/CT imaging contrast enhancement of tumor sites than that of CDs:Gd,Dy. Our study identified that engineered exosomes are a powerful tool for encapsulating multiple agents to enhance cancer theranostic efficiency and provide insight into precise personalized nanomedicine. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments and Emerging Trends in Nanomedicine)

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16 pages, 5001 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fabrication of Injectable Chitosan-Chondroitin Sulfate Hydrogel Embedding Kartogenin-Loaded Microspheres as an Ultrasound-Triggered Drug Delivery System for Cartilage Tissue Engineering

by Fu-Zhen Yuan, Hu-Fei Wang, Jian Guan, Jiang-Nan Fu, Meng Yang, Ji-Ying Zhang, You-Rong Chen, Xing Wang and Jia-Kuo Yu

Pharmaceutics 2021, 13(9), 1487; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics13091487 - 16 Sep 2021

Cited by 37 | Viewed by 4730

Abstract

Ultrasound-responsive microspheres (MPs) derived from natural polysaccharides and injectable hydrogels have been widely investigated as a biocompatible, biodegradable, and controllable drug delivery system and cell scaffolds for tissue engineering. In this study, kartogenin (KGN) loaded poly (lactide-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) MPs (MPs@KGN) were fabricated by premix membrane emulsification (PME) method which were sonicated by an ultrasound transducer. Furthermore, carboxymethyl chitosan-oxidized chondroitin sulfate (CMC-OCS) hydrogel were prepared via the Schiff’ base reaction-embedded MPs to produce a CMC-OCS/MPs scaffold. In the current work, morphology, mechanical property, porosity determination, swelling property, in vitro degradation, KGN release from scaffolds, cytotoxicity, and cell bioactivity were investigated. The results showed that MPs presented an obvious collapse after ultrasound treatment. The embedded PLGA MPs could enhance the compressive elastic modulus of soft CMC-OCS hydrogel. The cumulative release KGN from MPs exhibited a slow rate which would display an appropriate collapse after ultrasound, allowing KGN to maintain a continuous concentration for at least 28 days. Moreover, the composite CMC-OCS@MPs scaffolds exhibited faster gelation, lower swelling ratio, and lower in vitro degradation. CCK-8 and LIVE/DEAD staining showed these scaffolds did not influence rabbit bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (rBMMSCs) proliferation. Then these scaffolds were cultured with rBMMSCs for 2 weeks, and the immunofluorescent staining of collagen II (COL-2) showed that CMC-OCS hydrogel embedded with MPs@KGN (CMC-OCS@MPs@KGN) with ultrasound had the ability to increase the COL-2 synthesis. Overall, due to the improved mechanical property and the ability of sustained KGN release, this injectable hydrogel with ultrasound-responsive property is a promising system for cartilage tissue engineering. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments and Emerging Trends in Nanomedicine)

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11 pages, 2632 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Macrophage-Laden Gold Nanoflowers Embedded with Ultrasmall Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Enhanced Dual-Mode CT/MR Imaging of Tumors

by Yucheng Peng, Xiaomeng Wang, Yue Wang, Yue Gao, Rui Guo, Xiangyang Shi and Xueyan Cao

Pharmaceutics 2021, 13(7), 995; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics13070995 - 30 Jun 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2384

Abstract

The design of multimodal imaging nanoplatforms with improved tumor accumulation represents a major trend in the current development of precision nanomedicine. To this end, we report herein the preparation of macrophage (MA)-laden gold nanoflowers (NFs) embedded with ultrasmall iron oxide nanoparticles (USIO NPs) for enhanced dual-mode computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of tumors. In this work, generation 5 poly(amidoamine) (G5 PAMAM) dendrimer-stabilized gold (Au) NPs were conjugated with sodium citrate-stabilized USIO NPs to form hybrid seed particles for the subsequent growth of Au nanoflowers (NFs). Afterwards, the remaining terminal amines of dendrimers were acetylated to form the dendrimer-stabilized Fe₃O₄/Au NFs (for short, Fe₃O₄/Au DSNFs). The acquired Fe₃O₄/Au DSNFs possess an average size around 90 nm, display a high r₁ relaxivity (1.22 mM⁻¹ s⁻¹), and exhibit good colloidal stability and cytocompatibility. The created hybrid DSNFs can be loaded within MAs without producing any toxicity to the cells. Through the mediation of MAs with a tumor homing and immune evasion property, the Fe₃O₄/Au DSNFs can be delivered to tumors more efficiently than those without MAs after intravenous injection, thus significantly improving the MR/CT imaging performance of tumors. The developed MA-mediated delivery system may hold great promise for enhanced tumor delivery of other contrast agents or nanomedicines for precision cancer nanomedicine applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments and Emerging Trends in Nanomedicine)

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Review

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27 pages, 5673 KiB

Open AccessReview

Application of Computing as a High-Practicability and -Efficiency Auxiliary Tool in Nanodrugs Discovery

by Ke Xu, Shilin Li, Yangkai Zhou, Xinglong Gao, Jie Mei and Ying Liu

Pharmaceutics 2023, 15(4), 1064; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15041064 - 25 Mar 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1428

Abstract

Research and development (R&D) of nanodrugs is a long, complex and uncertain process. Since the 1960s, computing has been used as an auxiliary tool in the field of drug discovery. Many cases have proven the practicability and efficiency of computing in drug discovery. Over the past decade, computing, especially model prediction and molecular simulation, has been gradually applied to nanodrug R&D, providing substantive solutions to many problems. Computing has made important contributions to promoting data-driven decision-making and reducing failure rates and time costs in discovery and development of nanodrugs. However, there are still a few articles to examine, and it is necessary to summarize the development of the research direction. In the review, we summarize application of computing in various stages of nanodrug R&D, including physicochemical properties and biological activities prediction, pharmacokinetics analysis, toxicological assessment and other related applications. Moreover, current challenges and future perspectives of the computing methods are also discussed, with a view to help computing become a high-practicability and -efficiency auxiliary tool in nanodrugs discovery and development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments and Emerging Trends in Nanomedicine)

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15 pages, 1117 KiB

Open AccessReview

Ultrasonic Microbubble Cavitation Enhanced Tissue Permeability and Drug Diffusion in Solid Tumor Therapy

by Jide He, Zenan Liu, Xuehua Zhu, Haizhui Xia, Huile Gao and Jian Lu

Pharmaceutics 2022, 14(8), 1642; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics14081642 - 06 Aug 2022

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3266

Abstract

Chemotherapy has an essential role not only in advanced solid tumor therapy intervention but also in society’s health at large. Chemoresistance, however, seriously restricts the efficiency and sensitivity of chemotherapeutic agents, representing a significant threat to patients’ quality of life and life expectancy. How to reverse chemoresistance, improve efficacy sensitization response, and reduce adverse side effects need to be tackled urgently. Recently, studies on the effect of ultrasonic microbubble cavitation on enhanced tissue permeability and retention (EPR) have attracted the attention of researchers. Compared with the traditional targeted drug delivery regimen, the microbubble cavitation effect, which can be used to enhance the EPR effect, has the advantages of less trauma, low cost, and good sensitization effect, and has significant application prospects. This article reviews the research progress of ultrasound-mediated microbubble cavitation in the treatment of solid tumors and discusses its mechanism of action to provide new ideas for better treatment strategies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments and Emerging Trends in Nanomedicine)

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