Drug Delivery Systems: Advances in Nano-Technology

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "B:Biology and Biomedicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2023) | Viewed by 7274

Special Issue Editors

Instituto de Ingeniería y Tecnología, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Ciudad Juárez 32310, Mexico
Interests: pharmaceutical formulation; delivery and controlled-release systems for drugs, vaccines, and biopharmaceuticals; pharmaceutical process, engineering, biotechnology, and nanotechnology; devices, cells, molecular biology, and materials science related to drugs and drug delivery; nanomedicine; drug targeting; effects of the body on drugs (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion); physiological and biochemical effects of drugs on the body; systematic reviews
Instituto de Ingeniería y Tecnología, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Ciudad Juárez 32310, Mexico
Interests: nanomedicine; materials science; composite materials; drug delivery systems; controlled release
Departamento de Física, Universidad de Sonora, Blvd. Luis Encinas y Rosales s/n. Colonia Centro, Hermosillo 83000, Mexico
Interests: nanotechnology; nanostructured materials; drug delivery; controlled release; characterization

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Drug delivery systems are technologies developed for the dosing, targeted delivery, or prolonged and controlled release of therapeutic agents. Interdisciplinary research has advanced our understanding of the physiological barriers and transport mechanisms and contributed to design systems capable of overcoming such barriers and effectively delivering their cargo. Drug delivery has changed dramatically in recent years, and it is foreseeable that the changes will be even greater with the use of nanotechnology, which allows for improving the transport, bioavailability, and distribution of theragnostic agents. However, there are still challenges to overcome, like the side effects of chemotherapeutics on healthy tissue, targeting strategies, crossing the blood–brain barrier, enhancing intracellular delivery, improving transport mechanisms in the body, and scalability, among others. Despite the current advances, there are still limitations to designing optimal drugs for many diseases such as cancer, heart disease, neurodegenerative or infectious diseases and even poisoning.

This Special Issue aims to encourage researchers to submit significant and original work related to all aspects of drug delivery systems. Research or review papers are welcome that address fundamentals to micro/nano applications, as well as related materials, devices, and systems that contribute to overcoming the severe limitations of current medical practice and contribute to scientific progress for the prevention, management, and control of health problems. Potential topics include but are not limited to:

  • Synthesis and characterization of micro/nanoparticles;
  • Application of nanoplatforms as drug carriers;
  • Surface modification or functionalization of systems for targeted delivery;
  • Devices or alternative methods for drug delivery;
  • Theranostics platforms;
  • In vitro or in vitro studies of drug delivery systems.

Prof. Dr. Christian Chapa
Prof. Dr. Perla Elvia García Casillas
Dr. Roberto Carlos Carrillo Torres
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. Micromachines 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 2600 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.

Keywords

  • nanomedicine
  • micro/nanomaterials for drug delivery
  • biomedical and biomolecular materials
  • theranostic platforms
  • micro/nano fabrication and manufacturing medical devices
  • encapsulation efficiency
  • drug release
  • cellular uptake
  • targeted delivery

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 3666 KiB  
Article
Gold Half-Shell-Coated Paclitaxel-Loaded PLGA Nanoparticles for the Targeted Chemo-Photothermal Treatment of Cancer
by Jaime Ibarra, David Encinas-Basurto, Mario Almada, Josué Juárez, Miguel Angel Valdez, Silvia Barbosa and Pablo Taboada
Micromachines 2023, 14(7), 1390; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14071390 - 08 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1094
Abstract
Conventional cancer therapies suffer from nonspecificity, drug resistance, and a poor bioavailability, which trigger severe side effects. To overcome these disadvantages, in this study, we designed and evaluated the in vitro potential of paclitaxel-loaded, PLGA-gold, half-shell nanoparticles (PTX-PLGA/Au-HS NPs) conjugated with cyclo(Arg-Gly-Asp-Phe-Lys) (cyRGDfk) [...] Read more.
Conventional cancer therapies suffer from nonspecificity, drug resistance, and a poor bioavailability, which trigger severe side effects. To overcome these disadvantages, in this study, we designed and evaluated the in vitro potential of paclitaxel-loaded, PLGA-gold, half-shell nanoparticles (PTX-PLGA/Au-HS NPs) conjugated with cyclo(Arg-Gly-Asp-Phe-Lys) (cyRGDfk) as a targeted chemo-photothermal therapy system in HeLa and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells. A TEM analysis confirmed the successful gold half-shell structure formation. High-performance liquid chromatography showed an encapsulation efficiency of the paclitaxel inside nanoparticles of more than 90%. In the release study, an initial burst release of about 20% in the first 24 h was observed, followed by a sustained drug release for a period as long as 10 days, reaching values of about 92% and 49% for NPs with and without near infrared laser irradiation. In in vitro cell internalization studies, targeted nanoparticles showed a higher accumulation than nontargeted nanoparticles, possibly through a specific interaction of the cyRGDfk with their homologous receptors, the ανβ3 y ανβ5 integrins on the cell surface. Compared with chemotherapy or photothermal treatment alone, the combined treatment demonstrated a synergistic effect, reducing the cell viability to 23% for the HeLa cells and 31% for the MDA-MB-231 cells. Thus, our results indicate that these multifuncional nanoparticles can be considered to be a promising targeted chemo-photothermal therapy system against cancer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drug Delivery Systems: Advances in Nano-Technology)
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13 pages, 2790 KiB  
Article
Gold Nanorods with Mesoporous Silica Shell: A Promising Platform for Cisplatin Delivery
by Jaime Quiñones, Fabiola Carolina Miranda-Castro, David Encinas-Basurto, Jaime Ibarra, Edgar Felipe Moran-Palacio, Luis Alberto Zamora-Alvarez and Mario Almada
Micromachines 2023, 14(5), 1031; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14051031 - 11 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1766
Abstract
The versatile combination of metal nanoparticles with chemotherapy agents makes designing multifunctional drug delivery systems attractive. In this work, we reported cisplatin’s encapsulation and release profile using a mesoporous silica-coated gold nanorods system. Gold nanorods were synthesized by an acidic seed-mediated method in [...] Read more.
The versatile combination of metal nanoparticles with chemotherapy agents makes designing multifunctional drug delivery systems attractive. In this work, we reported cisplatin’s encapsulation and release profile using a mesoporous silica-coated gold nanorods system. Gold nanorods were synthesized by an acidic seed-mediated method in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide surfactant, and the silica-coated state was obtained by modified Stöber method. The silica shell was modified first with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane and then with succinic anhydride to obtain carboxylates groups to improve cisplatin encapsulation. Gold nanorods with an aspect ratio of 3.2 and silica shell thickness of 14.74 nm were obtained, and infrared spectroscopy and ζ potential studies corroborated surface modification with carboxylates groups. On the other hand, cisplatin was encapsulated under optimal conditions with an efficiency of ~58%, and it was released in a controlled manner over 96 h. Furthermore, acidic pH promoted a faster release of 72% cisplatin encapsulated compared to 51% in neutral pH. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drug Delivery Systems: Advances in Nano-Technology)
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11 pages, 2659 KiB  
Communication
Co-Delivery of Methotrexate and Nanohydroxyapatite with Polyethylene Glycol Polymers for Chemotherapy of Osteosarcoma
by Lingbin Ou, Qiongyu Zhang, Yong Chang and Ning Xia
Micromachines 2023, 14(4), 757; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14040757 - 29 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1424
Abstract
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is an alternative treatment modality for tumors. Methotrexate (MTX) has been often used as a neoadjuvant chemotherapy reagent for osteosarcoma surgery. However, the large dosage, high toxicity, strong drug resistance, and poor improvement of bone erosion restricted the utilization of methotrexate. [...] Read more.
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is an alternative treatment modality for tumors. Methotrexate (MTX) has been often used as a neoadjuvant chemotherapy reagent for osteosarcoma surgery. However, the large dosage, high toxicity, strong drug resistance, and poor improvement of bone erosion restricted the utilization of methotrexate. Here, we developed a targeted drug delivery system using nanosized hydroxyapatite particles (nHA) as the cores. MTX was conjugated to polyethylene glycol (PEG) through the pH-sensitive ester linkage and acted as both the folate receptor-targeting ligand and the anti-cancer drug due to the similarity to the structure of folic acid. Meanwhile, nHA could increase the concentration of calcium ions after being uptake by cells, thus inducing mitochondrial apoptosis and improving the efficacy of medical treatment. In vitro drug release studies of MTX-PEG-nHA in phosphate buffered saline at different pH values (5, 6.4 and 7.4) indicated that the system showed a pH-dependent release feature because of the dissolution of ester bonds and nHA under acidic conditions. Furthermore, the treatment on osteosarcoma cells (143B, MG63, and HOS) by using MTX-PEG-nHA was demonstrated to exhibit higher therapeutic efficacy. Therefore, the developed platform possesses the great potential for osteosarcoma therapy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drug Delivery Systems: Advances in Nano-Technology)
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10 pages, 3838 KiB  
Article
Gold Nanoparticles as Drug Carriers: The Role of Silica and PEG as Surface Coatings in Optimizing Drug Loading
by José Luis Carreón González, Perla Elvia García Casillas and Christian Chapa González
Micromachines 2023, 14(2), 451; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14020451 - 15 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2130
Abstract
The use of gold nanoparticles as drug delivery systems has received increasing attention due to their unique properties, such as their high stability and biocompatibility. However, gold nanoparticles have a high affinity for proteins, which can result in their rapid clearance from the [...] Read more.
The use of gold nanoparticles as drug delivery systems has received increasing attention due to their unique properties, such as their high stability and biocompatibility. However, gold nanoparticles have a high affinity for proteins, which can result in their rapid clearance from the body and limited drug loading capabilities. To address these limitations, we coated the gold nanoparticles with silica and PEG, which are known to improve the stability of nanoparticles. The synthesis of the nanoparticles was carried out using a reduction method. The nanoparticles’ size, morphology, and drug loading capacity were also studied. The SEM images showed a spherical and homogeneous morphology; they also showed that the coatings increased the average size of the nanoparticles. The results of this study provide insight into the potential of gold nanoparticles coated with silica and PEG as drug delivery systems. We used ibuprofen as a model drug and found that the highest drug load occurred in PEG-coated nanoparticles and then in silica-coated nanoparticles, while the uncoated nanoparticles had a lower drug loading capacity. The coatings were found to significantly improve the stability and drug load properties of the nanoparticles, making them promising candidates for further development as targeted and controlled release drug delivery systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drug Delivery Systems: Advances in Nano-Technology)
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