Nanotechnology for Precision Delivery of Therapeutic and Imaging Agents – A Theranostic Approach

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 April 2022) | Viewed by 3836

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Laboratory of Nanotechnology for Precision Medicine, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16163 Genoa, Italy
Interests: chemistry; nanoparticles; prodrugs; medical imaging; MRI; PET; drug delivery; theranostic

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Theranostic nanomedicine is an emerging field that combines the unique capabilities of nanotechnology with personalized medicine. The term “theranostics” was coined by combining diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities into a single agent. Over the last decade, researchers have investigated nanoparticle-based imaging and therapy separately, and only recently has the focus changed to NP-based theranostics. Even with the recent success of nanoparticles for the treatment of COVID-19, nanoparticle-based imaging and therapy are each struggling to advance into clinical trials. At the same time, nanoparticle-based theranostics are still in their early stages of development.

This Special Issue will provide insights into new drug delivery or imaging nanoparticles that could evolve into nanotheranostic platforms. Original research and reviews in the issue will focus on preclinical applications of delivery of therapeutic payloads and/or diagnostic probes in the context of cancer, cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, and regenerative medicine.

Dr. Miguel Filipe Moreira Ferreira
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • theranostic
  • nanomedicine
  • imaging
  • drug delivery
  • preclinical
  • cancer

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

29 pages, 2395 KiB  
Review
Active Targeted Nanoformulations via Folate Receptors: State of the Art and Future Perspectives
by Cristina Martín-Sabroso, Ana Isabel Torres-Suárez, Mario Alonso-González, Ana Fernández-Carballido and Ana Isabel Fraguas-Sánchez
Pharmaceutics 2022, 14(1), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics14010014 - 22 Dec 2021
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 3523
Abstract
In normal tissues, the expression of folate receptors is low and limited to cells that are important for embryonic development or for folate reabsorption. However, in several pathological conditions some cells, such as cancer cells and activated macrophages, overexpress folate receptors (FRs). This [...] Read more.
In normal tissues, the expression of folate receptors is low and limited to cells that are important for embryonic development or for folate reabsorption. However, in several pathological conditions some cells, such as cancer cells and activated macrophages, overexpress folate receptors (FRs). This overexpression makes them a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases to obtain a selective delivery of drugs at altered cells level, and thus to improve the therapeutic efficacy and decrease the systemic toxicity of the pharmacological treatments. Two strategies have been used to achieve this folate receptor targeting: (i) the use of ligands with high affinity to FRs (e.g., folic acid or anti-FRs monoclonal antibodies) linked to the therapeutic agents or (ii) the use of nanocarriers whose surface is decorated with these ligands and in which the drug is encapsulated. This manuscript analyzes the use of FRs as a target to develop new therapeutic tools in the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases with an emphasis on the nanoformulations that have been developed for both therapeutic and imaging purposes. Full article
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