Triggered Drug Delivery Systems

Dear Colleagues,

The maturing of the field of nanotechnology has allowed in the last decades the development of a wide variety of solutions to biomedical problems, in particular in the fields of drug delivery and sensing. However, a large volume of this research is focused on passive delivery, such as acummulation of the nanocarriers at the site of interest, but without having a precise control on the time of the activation or drug release dosage of the nanomaterial. A strategy which may enhance the effectivity of the diagnostic or the treatment, but that fails to address the need of removing its side effects to other tissues or biological sites and that it does not benefit from the economical advantage of requiring smaller amounts of the drug.

In recent years, there has been a growing effort to research smart and autonomous nanomaterials that activate only under endogenous or exogenous stimuli, either as nanocarriers or as the active entities themselves. The aim of this effort is to design nanosystems that allow tailored interventions, either by displaying on-demand activation in response to certain biomarker levels, or by allowing its activation through externally controlled stimuli.

This special issue is a compilation of recent advances in nanomaterials which allow stimuli-responsive triggered drug release and sensing.

Prof. Dr. Pilar Rivera-Gil
Dr. Muriel Rovira-Esteva
Guest Editors

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