Smart Nanocarriers for Drug Delivery in Cancer Therapy

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2024 | Viewed by 3168

Special Issue Editors


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Department of Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pza. San Diego, s/n, 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Spain
Interests: nanomedicine; nanotechnology; nanomaterials; targeted drug delivery
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Section of Immunobiology, University of León, Campus de Vegazana s/n, 24071 León, Spain
Interests: nanomedicine; nanotechnology; nanomaterials; targeted drug delivery
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Textil, Universidad de Salamanca, Pl/La Merced s/n, 37008 Salamanca, Spain
Interests: nanomedicine; nanotechnology; nanomaterials; targeted drug delivery
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cancer is one of the top causes of death worldwide, accounting for around 9.9 million deaths in 2020. Despite the advances in the diagnosis and treatment of this disease, its incidence is worryingly increasing, particularly in the lung, breast, colorectal, prostate, and stomach. As is the case with most solid tumors, one of the most challenging problems in cancer therapy is associated with the severe secondary toxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs. For this reason, there is an urgent need to reproducibly develop effective targeted nanocarriers that are capable of preventing drug adsorption and degradation in the upper gastrointestinal tract and thus capable of transporting chemotherapeutic drugs in different parts of the body.

This Special Issue aims to collect recent trends in the field of the therapy of cancer related to the use of nanocarriers capable of promoting active targets in the tumor microenvironment. Thus, we invite articles which focus on the development, characterization and validation of liposomes, nanoparticles, nanohydrogels, and nanocomposites conjugated with selective targeting molecules and/or stimuli-responsive molecules, designed to improve the main handicaps of traditional chemotherapy.

Prof. Dr. Gema Marcelo
Dr. Celia Nieto
Dr. Milena A. Vega
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • liposomes and lipid-based formulations
  • polymeric and metal nanoparticles
  • hydrogels and nanocomposites
  • targeted drug delivery
  • smart drug delivery
  • controlled drug release
  • nanomaterial fuctionalization

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 6523 KiB  
Article
Indocyanine-Green-Loaded Liposomes for Photodynamic and Photothermal Therapies: Inducing Apoptosis and Ferroptosis in Cancer Cells with Implications beyond Oral Cancer
by Wei-Ting Liao, Dao-Ming Chang, Meng-Xian Lin, Jeng-Woei Lee, Yi-Chung Tung and Jong-Kai Hsiao
Pharmaceutics 2024, 16(2), 224; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics16020224 - 04 Feb 2024
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Abstract
Oral cancer represents a global health burden, necessitating novel therapeutic strategies. Photodynamic and photothermal therapies using indocyanine green (ICG) have shown promise due to their distinctive near-infrared (NIR) light absorption characteristics and FDA-approved safety profiles. This study develops ICG-loaded liposomes (Lipo-ICGs) to further [...] Read more.
Oral cancer represents a global health burden, necessitating novel therapeutic strategies. Photodynamic and photothermal therapies using indocyanine green (ICG) have shown promise due to their distinctive near-infrared (NIR) light absorption characteristics and FDA-approved safety profiles. This study develops ICG-loaded liposomes (Lipo-ICGs) to further explore their potential in oral cancer treatments. We synthesized and characterized the Lipo-ICGs, conducted in vitro cell culture experiments to assess cellular uptake and photodynamic/photothermal effects, and performed in vivo animal studies to evaluate their therapeutic efficacy. Quantitative cell apoptosis and gene expression variation were further characterized using flow cytometry and RNA sequencing, respectively. Lipo-ICGs demonstrated a uniform molecular weight distribution among particles. The in vitro studies showed a successful internalization of Lipo-ICGs into the cells and a significant photodynamic treatment effect. The in vivo studies confirmed the efficient delivery of Lipo-ICGs to tumor sites and successful tumor growth inhibition following photodynamic therapy. Moreover, light exposure induced a time-sensitive photothermal effect, facilitating the further release of ICG, and enhancing the treatment efficacy. RNA sequencing data showed significant changes in gene expression patterns upon Lipo-ICG treatment, suggesting the activation of apoptosis and ferroptosis pathways. The findings demonstrate the potential of Lipo-ICGs as a therapeutic tool for oral cancer management, potentially extending to other cancer types. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Nanocarriers for Drug Delivery in Cancer Therapy)
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Review

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22 pages, 3736 KiB  
Review
Antibody-Loaded Nanoplatforms for Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment: An Update
by Rania Djermane, Celia Nieto, Milena A. Vega and Eva M. Martín del Valle
Pharmaceutics 2023, 15(5), 1514; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15051514 - 17 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1804
Abstract
At present, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second deadliest type of cancer, partly because a high percentage of cases are diagnosed at advanced stages when tumors have already metastasized. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop novel diagnostic systems that allow early [...] Read more.
At present, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second deadliest type of cancer, partly because a high percentage of cases are diagnosed at advanced stages when tumors have already metastasized. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop novel diagnostic systems that allow early detection as well as new therapeutic systems that are more specific than those currently available. In this context, nanotechnology plays a very important role in the development of targeted platforms. In recent decades, many types of nanomaterials with advantageous properties have been used for nano-oncology applications and have been loaded with different types of targeted agents, capable of recognizing tumor cells or biomarkers. Indeed, among the different types of targeted agents, the most widely used are monoclonal antibodies, as the administration of many of them is already approved by the main drug regulatory agencies for the treatment of several types of cancer, including CRC. In this way, this review comprehensively discusses the main drawbacks of the conventional screening technologies and treatment for CRC, and it presents recent advances in the application of antibody-loaded nanoplatforms for CRC detection, therapy or theranostics applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Nanocarriers for Drug Delivery in Cancer Therapy)
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