On the Road to Precision Medicine: Magnetic Systems for Tissue Regeneration, Drug Delivery, Imaging, and Theranostics

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past decade, it has become increasingly evident that several diseases bring patient-specific pathological features, which are at the root of the response variability observed upon generic treatments. This has led to the emergence of precision and personalized medicine, in which therapy selection is tailored to each specific individual. To achieve this goal, the treatment can be carried out through various strategies. Tailored nano/microsystems can be obtained via functionalization with antibodies, peptides, or molecules that can recognize specific molecular markers and then be internalized into pathological cells. Systems loaded with both imaging contrast agents and drugs can serve for simultaneous therapy and diagnosis (theranostics). Moreover, certain materials can be engineered to achieve controlled or conditional drug release in situ, or even be externally navigated and delivered to the diseased region. In this regard, magnetic systems stand as extremely potent and versatile tools since they can be easily modified on the surface and thus allow for specific cell targeting and imaging via multiple techniques. In addition, they can destroy target cells via hyperthermic effect, as well as affect the cell behavior (especially that of regenerative cells) and spatially translocate under the guidance of externally applied magnetic forces. This Special Issue aims at collecting the latest advances in the synthesis and application of such magnetic systems, including the preparation and/or functionalization of innovative nano/microsystems, (para)magnetic systems for theranostics, hyperthermic treatment, cell stimulation and guidance, and biomedical micro-robotics.

Dr. Bogdan Parakhonskiy
Dr. Francesca Garello
Dr. Miriam Filippi
Dr. Yulia I. Svenskaya
Guest Editors

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