Nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems

Sarabjeet Singh Suri,Baljit Singh,Hicham Fenniri

doi:10.1186/1745-6673-2-16

Abstract

Nanoparticles hold tremendous potential as an effective drug delivery system. In this review we discussed recent developments in nanotechnology for drug delivery. To overcome the problems of gene and drug delivery, nanotechnology has gained interest in recent years. Nanosystems with different compositions and biological properties have been extensively investigated for drug and gene delivery applications. To achieve efficient drug delivery it is important to understand the interactions of nanomaterials with the biological environment, targeting cell-surface receptors, drug release, multiple drug administration, stability of therapeutic agents and molecular mechanisms of cell signalling involved in pathobiology of the disease under consideration. Several anti-cancer drugs including paclitaxel, doxorubicin, 5-fluorouracil and dexamethasone have been successfully formulated using nanomaterials. Quantom dots, chitosan, Polylactic/glycolic acid (PLGA) and PLGA-based nanoparticles have also been used for in vitro RNAi delivery. Brain cancer is one of the most difficult malignancies to detect and treat mainly because of the difficulty in getting imaging and therapeutic agents past the blood-brain barrier and into the brain. Anti-cancer drugs such as loperamide and doxorubicin bound to nanomaterials have been shown to cross the intact blood-brain barrier and released at therapeutic concentrations in the brain. The use of nanomaterials including peptide-based nanotubes to target the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor and cell adhesion molecules like integrins, cadherins and selectins, is a new approach to control disease progression.

Highlights

Nanoparticles used as drug delivery vehicles are generally < 100 nm in at least one dimension, and consist of different biodegradable materials such as natural or synthetic polymers, lipids, or metals
A drug targeting system should be able to control the fate of a drug entering the biological environment
Nanosystems with different compositions and biological properties have been extensively investigated for drug and gene delivery applications [1,2,3,4,5]

Summary

Introduction

Nanoparticles used as drug delivery vehicles are generally < 100 nm in at least one dimension, and consist of different biodegradable materials such as natural or synthetic polymers, lipids, or metals. The synthetic peptide bearing ArgGly-Asp (RGD) sequence is known to bind to the αvβ integrin expressed on endothelial cells in the angiogenic blood vessels, which can potentially inhibit the tumor growth and proliferation. Nanoparticles-mediated delivery of antimicrobial agent(s) into pathogen-containing intracellular vacuoles in macrophages could be useful to eliminate cellular reservoirs [30,31] This system can be used to achieve therapeutic drug concentrations in the vacuoles of infected macrophages and reduction in side effects associated with the drug administration and the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Recent advancements of the understanding of the cell adhesion molecules has impacted the design and development of drugs (i.e. peptide, proteins) for the potential treatment of cancer, heart and autoimmune diseases [36,37,38]. More detailed information on the mechanism(s) of internalization and intracellular trafficking of cell adhesion molecules is required to be exploited for delivering drug molecules to a specific cell type or for diagnosis of cancer and other diseases (heart and autoimmune diseases)

Conclusion

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