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Polymer-Based Systems for Targeted Therapy

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 January 2022) | Viewed by 18850

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Laboratory of Biocompatible Polymers, Department of “Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche, Chimiche e Farmaceutiche” (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi, 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
Interests: synthesis and physicochemical characterization of biocompatible polymers; innovative drug delivery systems; drug and gene delivery; hydrogels; three-dimensional scaffolds; tissue engineering; regenerative medicine; targeted release; lipid-based drug delivery systems; theranostic systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Biocompatible Polymers, Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
Interests: functionalization and purification of biopolymers; controlled drug release; active targeting; microparticles and nanoparticles; polymeric micelles; lipid-based nanostructured systems; polycations; gene therapy; imaging
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to participate in this project by contributing with original works or reviews concerning the creation of advanced therapeutic systems for the targeting of drugs and/or imaging agents towards a specific location in the organism.

In particular, the papers of this collection will be selected by carefully choosing those that describe therapeutic systems made from biopolymers—whether natural, semi-synthetic, or synthetic—of proven biocompatibility and biodegradability, if present, with these properties being essential for their potential applicability in the biomedical field.

Specifically, we welcome works concerning the design, production, and chemical–physical, technological, and biological characterization of therapeutic systems capable of accumulating in organs or tissues by exploiting passive and active targeting mechanisms for the treatment of pathologies that heavily affect the quality of life of patients.

We are also very interested in works concerning the possibility of giving a new life to drugs whose administration through conventional formulations is accompanied by various problems such as formulation problems, side effects due to non-specific biodistribution, and inaccessibility to the target site.

Prof. Dr. Gaetano Giammona
Prof. Emanuela Craparo
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. Polymers 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

  • targeting
  • polymers
  • nanomedicine
  • drug delivery
  • theranostics

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

26 pages, 4555 KiB  
Review
Evaluating the Anticarcinogenic Activity of Surface Modified/Functionalized Nanochitosan: The Emerging Trends and Endeavors
by Jae-Wook Oh, Juhyun Shin, Sechul Chun, Manikandan Muthu and Judy Gopal
Polymers 2021, 13(18), 3138; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13183138 - 17 Sep 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2743
Abstract
Chitosan begins its humble journey from marine food shell wastes and ends up as a versatile nutraceutical. This review focuses on briefly discussing the antioxidant activity of chitosan and retrospecting the accomplishments of chitosan nanoparticles as an anticarcinogen. The various modified/functionalized/encapsulated chitosan nanoparticles [...] Read more.
Chitosan begins its humble journey from marine food shell wastes and ends up as a versatile nutraceutical. This review focuses on briefly discussing the antioxidant activity of chitosan and retrospecting the accomplishments of chitosan nanoparticles as an anticarcinogen. The various modified/functionalized/encapsulated chitosan nanoparticles and nanoforms have been listed and their biomedical deliverables presented. The anticancer accomplishments of chitosan and its modified composites have been reviewed and presented. The future of surface modified chitosan and the lacunae in the current research focus have been discussed as future perspective. This review puts forth the urge to expand the scientific curiosity towards attempting a variety of functionalization and surface modifications to chitosan. There are few well known modifications and functionalization that benefit biomedical applications that have been proven for other systems. Being a biodegradable, biocompatible polymer, chitosan-based nanomaterials are an attractive option for medical applications. Therefore, maximizing expansion of its bioactive properties are explored. The need for applying the ideal functionalization that will significantly promote the anticancer contributions of chitosan nanomaterials has also been stressed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer-Based Systems for Targeted Therapy)
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33 pages, 9640 KiB  
Review
A Comprehensive Review of Microneedles: Types, Materials, Processes, Characterizations and Applications
by Faisal Khaled Aldawood, Abhay Andar and Salil Desai
Polymers 2021, 13(16), 2815; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13162815 - 22 Aug 2021
Cited by 182 | Viewed by 15351
Abstract
Drug delivery through the skin offers many advantages such as avoidance of hepatic first-pass metabolism, maintenance of steady plasma concentration, safety, and compliance over oral or parenteral pathways. However, the biggest challenge for transdermal delivery is that only a limited number of potent [...] Read more.
Drug delivery through the skin offers many advantages such as avoidance of hepatic first-pass metabolism, maintenance of steady plasma concentration, safety, and compliance over oral or parenteral pathways. However, the biggest challenge for transdermal delivery is that only a limited number of potent drugs with ideal physicochemical properties can passively diffuse and intercellularly permeate through skin barriers and achieve therapeutic concentration by this route. Significant efforts have been made toward the development of approaches to enhance transdermal permeation of the drugs. Among them, microneedles represent one of the microscale physical enhancement methods that greatly expand the spectrum of drugs for transdermal and intradermal delivery. Microneedles typically measure 0.1–1 mm in length. In this review, microneedle materials, fabrication routes, characterization techniques, and applications for transdermal delivery are discussed. A variety of materials such as silicon, stainless steel, and polymers have been used to fabricate solid, coated, hollow, or dissolvable microneedles. Their implications for transdermal drug delivery have been discussed extensively. However, there remain challenges with sustained delivery, efficacy, cost-effective fabrication, and large-scale manufacturing. This review discusses different modes of characterization and the gaps in manufacturing technologies associated with microneedles. This review also discusses their potential impact on drug delivery, vaccine delivery, disease diagnostic, and cosmetics applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer-Based Systems for Targeted Therapy)
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