Triggered Drug Delivery Systems

A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923). This special issue belongs to the section "Drug Delivery and Controlled Release".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 May 2020) | Viewed by 9247

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Integrative Biomedical Materials and Nanomedicine Lab, Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Pompeu Fabra University, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: translational nanomedicine; controled release; biocompatible materials; targeting; optical ion sensing; hyperthermia
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

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

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. Pharmaceutics 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 2900 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.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

15 pages, 2518 KiB  
Article
Hyperthermia-Triggered Doxorubicin Release from Polymer-Coated Magnetic Nanorods
by Felisa Reyes-Ortega, Blanca Luna Checa Fernández, Angel V. Delgado and Guillermo R. Iglesias
Pharmaceutics 2019, 11(10), 517; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics11100517 - 08 Oct 2019
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 3677
Abstract
In this paper, it is proposed that polymer-coated magnetic nanorods (MNRs) can be used with the advantage of a double objective: first, to serve as magnetic hyperthermia agents, and second, to be used as magnetic vehicles for the antitumor drug doxorubicin (DOX). Two [...] Read more.
In this paper, it is proposed that polymer-coated magnetic nanorods (MNRs) can be used with the advantage of a double objective: first, to serve as magnetic hyperthermia agents, and second, to be used as magnetic vehicles for the antitumor drug doxorubicin (DOX). Two different synthetic methodologies (hydrothermal and co-precipitation) were used to obtain MNRs of maghemite and magnetite. They were coated with poly(ethyleneimine) and poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate), and loaded with DOX, using the Layer-by-Layer technique. Evidence of the polymer coating and the drug loading was justified by ATR-FTIR and electrophoretic mobility measurements, and the composition of the coated nanorods was obtained by a thermogravimetric analysis. The nanorods were tested as magnetic hyperthermia agents, and it was found that they provided sufficiently large heating rates to be used as adjuvant therapy against solid tumors. DOX loading and release were determined by UV-visible spectroscopy, and it was found that up to 50% of the loaded drug was released in about 5 h, although the rate of release could be regulated by simultaneous application of hyperthermia, which acts as a sort of external release-trigger. Shape control offers another physical property of the particles as candidates to interact with tumor cells, and particles that are not too elongated can easily find their way through the cell membrane. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Triggered Drug Delivery Systems)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Review

Jump to: Research

25 pages, 2492 KiB  
Review
Recent Progress and Advances of Multi-Stimuli-Responsive Dendrimers in Drug Delivery for Cancer Treatment
by Ngoc Thuy Trang Le, Thi Nhu Quynh Nguyen, Van Du Cao, Duc Thuan Hoang, Van Cuong Ngo and Thai Thanh Hoang Thi
Pharmaceutics 2019, 11(11), 591; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics11110591 - 08 Nov 2019
Cited by 51 | Viewed by 5202
Abstract
Despite the fact that nanocarriers as drug delivery systems overcome the limitation of chemotherapy, the leakage of encapsulated drugs during the delivery process to the target site can still cause toxic effects to healthy cells in other tissues and organs in the body. [...] Read more.
Despite the fact that nanocarriers as drug delivery systems overcome the limitation of chemotherapy, the leakage of encapsulated drugs during the delivery process to the target site can still cause toxic effects to healthy cells in other tissues and organs in the body. Controlling drug release at the target site, responding to stimuli that originated from internal changes within the body, as well as stimuli manipulated by external sources has recently received significant attention. Owning to the spherical shape and porous structure, dendrimer is utilized as a material for drug delivery. Moreover, the surface region of dendrimer has various moieties facilitating the surface functionalization to develop the desired material. Therefore, multi-stimuli-responsive dendrimers or ‘smart’ dendrimers that respond to more than two stimuli will be an inspired attempt to achieve the site-specific release and reduce as much as possible the side effects of the drug. The aim of this review was to delve much deeper into the recent progress of multi-stimuli-responsive dendrimers in the delivery of anticancer drugs in addition to the major potential challenges. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Triggered Drug Delivery Systems)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Back to TopTop