Advanced Science.2022ReviewDrug Delivery
De R, Mahata Mk, Kim K-T
Drug carriers are as important as drugs themselves, but clinical translation of polymeric nanocarriers (PNCs) remains limited by incomplete understanding of how carrier architecture and physicochemical properties affect loading, circulation, targeting, and release. The review addresses this gap by systematically…
Read the article →Advanced Healthcare Materials2021ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Raza F, Zafar H, Zhang S, Kamal Z, Su J, Yuan W-E, Qiu M.
Cancer immunotherapy is limited by the immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment, patient heterogeneity, poor delivery of immunotherapeutics, and systemic immunotoxicity. Cell membrane-derived biomimetic nanoparticles may improve delivery and biodistribution, enhance targeting and immune stimulation, and overcome…
Read the article →Nature Reviews Materials2021ReviewDrug Delivery
Mandana T. Manzari, Yosi Shamay, Hiroto Kiguchi, Neal Rosen, Maurizio Scaltriti, And Daniel A. Heller
Precision medicine has transformed cancer therapy by enabling molecular profiling and optimised drug design, but clinical translation of many precision therapeutics is hindered by pharmacological limitations, including toxicities and drug resistance. Drug delivery materials can modulate a drug’s pharmacokinetics…
Read the article →Journal of Oncology2020ReviewDrug Delivery
Zein R, Sharrouf W, Selting K.
Drug penetration into tumours is limited by abnormal vasculature and high interstitial pressure, and chemotherapy causes undesirable adverse effects including bone marrow and gastrointestinal toxicity. Nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems aim to reduce these adverse effects by enhancing penetration and…
Read the article →Nanomaterials2020ReviewDrug Delivery
Fam Sy, Chee Cf, Yong Cy, Ho Kl, Mariatulqabtiah Ar, Tan Ws.
Nanoparticles (NPs) interact extensively with plasma proteins after intravenous administration and are rapidly cleared by the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) or complement system, causing premature drug release at off-target sites. A stealth coating layer can improve blood circulation half-life by escaping immune…
Read the article →Bioconjugate Chemistry2020ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Francia V, Schiffelers Rm, Cullis Pr, Witzigmann D
LNPs are clinically advanced vectors for siRNA, mRNA, and DNA delivery, but their in vivo behaviour is strongly influenced by the biological environment. Upon administration, biomolecules adsorb to the LNP surface and form a “biomolecular corona,” which defines the particle’s biological identity, affects stability…
Read the article →Biomaterials Science2019ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Alidha Gafur, Natalia Kristi, Ali Maruf, Guixue Wang, And Zhiyi Ye
Despite decades of nanomedicine development for tumour therapy, less than 1% of systemically administered nanocarriers (NCs) accumulate in solid tumours. This is largely due to protein corona formation during blood circulation, which accelerates clearance and masks targeting ligands. Stealthy (neutral/negatively…
Read the article →Nanoscale2019ReviewDrug Delivery
Ferrari, R.; Sponchioni, M.; Morbidelli, M.; Moscatelli, D
Many polymer-based nanoparticle formulations fail before or during clinical trials. This review identifies the key checkpoints a nanocarrier must satisfy after intravenous injection — biocompatibility, drug loading/release, storage stability, biodistribution, target selectivity, cellular internalisation, and…
Read the article →Nature Reviews Drug Discovery2019ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Ekliadious, I.; Colson, Y. L.; Grinstaff, M. W
Polymer–drug conjugates have achieved clinical success, especially PEG–protein conjugates, but translation of many conjugates—particularly polymer–small-molecule anticancer therapeutics—remains limited. This review addresses the need for rational design, better understanding of in vivo barriers, and identification of…
Read the article →Journal of Controlled Release.2018ReviewDrug Delivery
Hassan Dianat‐moghadam, Maryam Heidarifard, Rana Jahanban‐esfahlan, Yunes Panahi, Hamed Hamishehkar, Farhad Pouremamali, Reza Rahbarghazi, Mohammad Nouri
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) drive tumour heterogeneity, drug resistance, recurrence, and metastasis, limiting conventional chemo/radiotherapy. Liposomal drug delivery systems (LDDSs) are biocompatible, versatile nanocarriers that may overcome CSC-mediated resistance, but their clinical translation remains limited by…
Read the article →Frontiers in Pharmacology2018ReviewDrug Delivery
Sima Rezvantalab, Natascha Ingrid Drude, Mostafa Keshavarz Moraveji, Nihan Güvener, Emily Kate Koons, Yang Shi, Twan Lammers, Fabian Kiessling
PLGA-based nanoparticles are widely investigated for cancer therapy, but their clinical translation remains limited. A consolidated overview was needed of how PLGA NP physicochemical properties, biological behaviour, targeting strategies, and combination therapies interact—and why promising preclinical results have…
Read the article →2017ReviewDrug Delivery
Liposomes are the first nano drug delivery systems successfully translated into clinical use, but many formulations still face limitations in biodistribution, toxicity, stability, and target selectivity. An updated review was needed to summarise liposome technologies, marketed clinical products, formulation aspects…
Read the article →Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews.2016ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Cheng X, Lee Rj
Oligonucleotide (ON) therapeutics—antisense ONs, siRNA, miRNA mimics/inhibitors, antimiRs—are limited by poor membrane permeability, rapid renal/RES clearance, and nuclease degradation. LNPs can protect ONs and improve delivery, but the role of helper lipids in LNP stability, circulation, endosomal escape, and in…
Read the article →Journal of Controlled Release2015ReviewDrug Delivery
Helin Xu, Qing Yao, Cuifang Cai, Jinxin Gou, Yu Zhang, Haijun Zhong, Xing Tang
Amphiphilic poly(amino acid)-based micelles are attractive for systemic drug delivery because they are biodegradable, biocompatible, have functional side groups, can load diverse drugs, and can exploit the EPR effect. However, low cargo capacity and poor stability in blood remain major barriers to clinical…
Read the article →Chemical Reviews2015ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Li, Y.; Maciel, D.; Rodrigues, J.; Shi, X.; Tomás, H
Despite extensive research, therapeutic delivery still faces major barriers: poor plasma stability, rapid clearance by the reticuloendothelial system (RES), and intracellular obstacles such as endosomal entrapment and lysosomal degradation. Biodegradable polymer nanogels (NGs) — physically or chemically cross-linked…
Read the article →Pharmaceutics2013ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Tam Yyc, Chen S, Cullis Pr
siRNA has broad therapeutic potential, but clinical translation is limited by rapid nuclease degradation, poor accumulation in target tissues, and inability to cross cell membranes to reach the cytoplasm. Lipid nanoparticles containing ionisable amino lipids are the leading systemic delivery system for siRNA, with…
Read the article →Journal of Controlled Release2012ReviewDrug Delivery
Fabienne Danhier, Eduardo Ansorena, Joana M. Silva, Regis Coco, Aude Le Breton, Véronique Préat
PLGA is one of the most successfully developed biodegradable polymers, with FDA and EMA approval for parenteral drug delivery, but a comprehensive overview linking its formulation methods, physicochemical pitfalls, targeting strategies, and applications across multiple diseases was needed. This review presents why…
Read the article →Polymers2011ReviewDrug Delivery
Hirenkumar K. Makadia And Steven J. Siegel
PLGA has become one of the most attractive biodegradable polymers for drug delivery and tissue engineering, but its degradation and drug-release behaviour depend on many interconnected variables—polymer composition, molecular weight, crystallinity, device geometry, fabrication method, and drug type. A consolidated…
Read the article →Nature Reviews Drug Discovery2010ReviewDrug Delivery
Robby A. Petros And Joseph M. Desimone
Engineered nanoparticles have shown promise for targeted drug delivery, but first-generation systems (liposomes and polymer–drug conjugates) have not overcome all biological barriers required for effective therapy. Key barriers include opsonisation and RES clearance, inefficient cargo encapsulation and triggered…
Read the article →Journal of Internal Medicine2010ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Schroeder A, Levins Cg, Cortez C, Langer R, Anderson Dg
RNAi has strong therapeutic potential, but clinical translation of siRNA is limited by delivery. siRNA is large, negatively charged, susceptible to nuclease degradation, poorly taken up by cells, and must reach the cytoplasm to engage RISC. Safe and effective lipid-based delivery systems are needed to protect siRNA…
Read the article →Molecular Membrane Biology1998ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Hope Mj, Mui B, Ansell S, Ahkong Qf
Polymeric nucleic acid drugs—plasmid DNA, antisense oligonucleotides, and ribozymes—require protection from nucleases and efficient intracellular delivery to cytoplasm/nucleus. Viral vectors are efficient but immunogenic and safety-limited; non-viral cationic lipid systems are promising, but the mechanism of…
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