Chapter 24 - Bio-inspired drug delivery systems

Abstract

Drug (therapeutic agent) delivery systems (DDSs) are versatile multifunctional systems combining multidisciplinary fields of materials, pharmaceutics, and engineering. Polymers and polymeric hydrogels are of paramount significance in this area due to their structure and specific favorable properties. A special class of drug delivery systems presents bio-inspired drug delivery systems whose design is a great challenge for researchers in advanced materials engineering and nanoengineering. Bio-inspired materials and systems are created to be synthetic materials and systems whose structure, properties, and function imitate those of biological/natural materials and/or living matter. In that sense, natural “nanodevices” located in biological frameworks motivate the design of new structures that accommodate system properties by “replication” native tissues and their functionality by imitating natural processes. These bio-inspired systems can improve biocompatible function during the delivery process of therapeutic agents. The accomplishment of these types of drug delivery systems depend on factors such as surface performances, characteristic texture, shape, development, and way of design (preparation methods). So far, series and different types of bio-inspired drug delivery systems are affordable. The bio-inspired systems showed excellent performances and therefore have (find great application) tremendous uses in biomedicine and biomedical engineering. Drug (therapeutic agent) and gene delivery, intracellular and neuronal delivery uses are the most important (major among) in the biomedical uses of these adjustable systems. A significant impact of these delivery systems on the biological systems is due to (owing to) favorable biocompatible behavior, lower toxicity, and advantageous interactions. Bio-inspired systems have great potential with many possibilities for solving the complexities and dilemmas encountered in different types of therapeutics. This report gives insight into bioinspired drug and gene delivery and intracellular and neuronal delivery.