Nanotechnology-Based Materials for Drug Targeting, Drug Delivery and Cell Therapy

A special issue of Journal of Functional Biomaterials (ISSN 2079-4983). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomaterials for Drug Delivery".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2024) | Viewed by 5441

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Drugs Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Interests: nanomedicine; nanotechnology; tissue engineering; drug delivery; nanofibers; shape memory tissue
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nanotechnology and the successful development of new nanomaterials provide new ideas and potential methods for promoting drug targeting, drug delivery, and cell therapy. Nanomaterials have unique physicochemical and biological properties that can effectively enhance the therapeutic efficacy by improving the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of encapsulated drugs, including drug stability, and achieving targeted drug delivery and controlled drug release due to their special characteristics of size, shape, charge and functionalizations. Until now, smart nanomaterials have been engineered with endogenous stimulators such as pH, reactive oxygen species, glutathione, hypoxia and enzyme, or exogenous stimulators such as temperature, light, ultrasound, radiation, and magnetic field. These stimuli-responsive nanomaterials find application in drug delivery, diagnostics, theranostics, tumor imaging, cancer therapy, and biomedical devices. Furthermore, nanomaterials with superior physiochemical properties have been developed and integrated into cell engineering and therapy for translating their great promise into clinical success. Nanomaterials are increasingly playing a key role in cell engineering and therapy such as cell isolation from a heterogeneous cell population, in vitro cell education to enable desired functionalities, MSCs differentiation and targeted delivery of cells to therapeutic sites to stimulate tissue regeneration.

Researchers are welcome to submit reviews and original research papers focusing on nanotechnology for drug targeting, drug delivery and controlled drug release, as well as cell therapy.

Dr. Silvia Pisani
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • nanotechnology
  • nanomaterials
  • biomaterials
  • drug targeting
  • drug delivery
  • cell therapy
  • stimuli-responsive nanomaterials
  • nanomedicine

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

25 pages, 5051 KiB  
Review
Nanomaterials in Immunology: Bridging Innovative Approaches in Immune Modulation, Diagnostics, and Therapy
by George-Alexandru Croitoru, Diana-Cristina Pîrvulescu, Adelina-Gabriela Niculescu, Dragoș Epistatu, Marius Rădulescu, Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu and Carmen-Larisa Nicolae
J. Funct. Biomater. 2024, 15(8), 225; https://doi.org/10.3390/jfb15080225 - 14 Aug 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3330
Abstract
The intersection of immunology and nanotechnology has provided significant advancements in biomedical research and clinical applications over the years. Immunology aims to understand the immune system’s defense mechanisms against pathogens. Nanotechnology has demonstrated its potential to manipulate immune responses, as nanomaterials’ properties can [...] Read more.
The intersection of immunology and nanotechnology has provided significant advancements in biomedical research and clinical applications over the years. Immunology aims to understand the immune system’s defense mechanisms against pathogens. Nanotechnology has demonstrated its potential to manipulate immune responses, as nanomaterials’ properties can be modified for the desired application. Research has shown that nanomaterials can be applied in diagnostics, therapy, and vaccine development. In diagnostics, nanomaterials can be used for biosensor development, accurately detecting biomarkers even at very low concentrations. Therapeutically, nanomaterials can act as efficient carriers for delivering drugs, antigens, or genetic material directly to targeted cells or tissues. This targeted delivery improves therapeutic efficacy and reduces the adverse effects on healthy cells and tissues. In vaccine development, nanoparticles can improve vaccine durability and extend immune responses by effectively delivering adjuvants and antigens to immune cells. Despite these advancements, challenges regarding the safety, biocompatibility, and scalability of nanomaterials for clinical applications are still present. This review will cover the fundamental interactions between nanomaterials and the immune system, their potential applications in immunology, and their safety and biocompatibility concerns. Full article
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24 pages, 2252 KiB  
Review
Antibiotic-Loaded Nano-Sized Delivery Systems: An Insight into Gentamicin and Vancomycin
by Silvia Pisani, Shafia Tufail, Mariella Rosalia, Rossella Dorati, Ida Genta, Enrica Chiesa and Bice Conti
J. Funct. Biomater. 2024, 15(7), 194; https://doi.org/10.3390/jfb15070194 - 15 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1463
Abstract
The fight against infectious disease has remained an ever-evolving challenge in the landscape of healthcare. The ability of pathogens to develop resistance against conventional drug treatments has decreased the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions, and antibiotic resistance is recognized as one of the main [...] Read more.
The fight against infectious disease has remained an ever-evolving challenge in the landscape of healthcare. The ability of pathogens to develop resistance against conventional drug treatments has decreased the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions, and antibiotic resistance is recognized as one of the main challenges of our time. The goal of this systematic review paper is to provide insight into the research papers published on innovative nanosized drug delivery systems (DDSs) based on gentamycin and vancomycin and to discuss the opportunity of their repurposing through nano DDS formulations. These two antibiotics are selected because (i) gentamicin is the first-line drug used to treat suspected or confirmed infections caused by Gram-negative bacterial infections and (ii) vancomycin is used to treat serious Gram-positive bacterial infections. Moreover, both antibiotics have severe adverse effects, and one of the purposes of their formulation as nanosized DDSs is to overcome them. The review paper includes an introduction focusing on the challenges of infectious diseases and traditional therapeutic treatments, a brief description of the chemical and pharmacological properties of gentamicin and vancomycin, case studies from the literature on innovative nanosized DDSs as carriers of the two antibiotic drugs, and a discussion of the results found in the literature. Full article
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