Polymer-Drug Conjugates/Prodrugs for Drug Delivery Application
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinal Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2020) | Viewed by 9434
Special Issue Editor
Interests: dendrimer nanocarriers; biopolymers; clinical pharmaceutics; polymer nanoparticulates
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Polymer–drug conjugates/prodrugs are widely investigated for many drug delivery applications, such as enhanced water solubility, site-specific delivery (drug targeting), improved stability, etc. The covalent bond between the drug and polymer is normally selected according to the ultimate purpose of the drug delivery system. In other words, the release of drug from such a conjugate occurs via chemical or enzymatic cleavage of a labile bond. For example, for a polymer–drug conjugate designed for enhanced drug oral bioavailability, the covalent bond is selected to be stable in the gastrointestinal tract and during transit across epithelial cells, but labile once absorbed. However, the availability of suitable function groups of the drug and a polymer is crucial. In many studies, therefore, the drug is attached through a covalent bond via a linker/spacer to the functional groups of a polymer. Generally, the covalent linkage provides a stable system that is not dependent upon the physical or thermodynamic factors which apply to encapsulated systems. In addition, in some branched polymers, like dendrimers, there are great opportunities for tailoring/engineering the surface to facilitate drug conjugation and/or to attach the designed moieties that exhibit desired properties such as targeting, long circulation, etc. This Special issue of Molecules will provide a platform for presenting the latest design strategies for polymer–drug conjugation and their applications in drug delivery.
Dr. Mohammad Najlah
Guest Editor
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. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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
- Polymer macromolecules
- Covalent bond drug delivery
- Conjugation
- Prodrug
