Current Drug Targets - Volume 16, Issue 6, 2015

Rapid technical advances in the field of non-linear microscopy have made intravital microscopy a vital pre-clinical tool for research and development of imaging-guided drug delivery systems. The ability to dynamically monitor the fate of macromolecules in live animals provides invaluable information regarding properties of drug carriers (size, charge, and surface coating), physiological, and pathological processe Read More

Optical molecular imaging has been frequently used in many preclinical researches including cancer detection, tumor mechanism study, drug efficacy evaluation and targeted drug delivery. Among optical molecular imaging modalities, bioluminescence imaging and fluorescence imaging have acquired certain degree of development and attracted more and more attention in recent years for their high sensitivity and low c Read More

Nanoparticles are emerging as versatile nanoplatforms for the construction of multifunctional nanoprobes, which not only can deliver drugs into desired tumor regions but also are able to monitor the delivery, release and biodistribution of drugs in real time. In order to assist drug delivery, fluorescent imaging that can make the transportation viewable is often used. Then, various fluorescent nanoprobes that are composed Read More

Nanoparticles have recently had a major impact on basic biosciences, the pharmaceutical industry, and preclinical and translational medicine by enabling targeted delivery of therapeutic cargo to cells and tissues. The capacity to specifically tailor the pharmacokinetics, biodistribution, and longterm fate of therapeutic molecules for specific diseases and to avoid off-target side effects is a tremendously promising capability o Read More

Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is rapidly becoming established as a viable imaging modality for small animal research, with promise of near-future human clinical translation. In this review, we discuss emerging prospects for photoacoustic-guided drug delivery. PAI presents opportunities for applications related to drug delivery, mainly with respect to either monitoring drug effects or monitoring drugs themselves. PAI is well-su Read More

Lead-compound optimization is an iterative process in the cancer drug development pipeline, in which small molecule inhibitors or biological compounds that are selected for their ability to bind specific targets are synthesised, tested and optimised. This process can be accelerated significantly using molecular imaging with nuclear medicine techniques, which aim to monitor the biodistribution and pharmacokinetics Read More

Tremendous resources are being invested all over the world for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of various types of cancer. Successful cancer management depends on accurate diagnosis of the disease along with precise therapeutic protocol. The conventional systemic drug delivery approaches generally cannot completely remove the competent cancer cells without surpassing the toxicity limits to normal tissues. The Read More

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a functional imaging modality that measures pathophysiology status of disease noninvasively, and has become a key component for innovative drug delivery system (DDS) studies recently. The development of multifunctional chelating agents is critical for developing PET radiopharmaceuticals and therefore has become a hot and demanding research topic recently. The optimal chelator Read More

Due to their high target affinity and specificity, antib odies are very suitable tumor-targeting vehicles for imaging and therapeutic application. This enables a theranostic approach of imaging targeted drug delivery in oncology and opens the way for personalized medicine, predicting drug delivery, response, and treatment outcome in the individual patient. Of the currently available molecular imaging techniques, single-pho Read More

Cancer-targeted radionuclide therapy is a promising approach for the treatment of a wide variety of malignancies, especially those resistant to conventional therapies. However, to improve the use of targeted radionuclide therapy for the management of cancer patients, the in vivo behaviors, dosimetry, and efficacy of radiotherapeutic agents need to be well characterized and monitored. Molecular imaging, which is Read More

Success of medical treatments for any pathological disorders majorly depends on the efficacy of the therapeutic molecules and their delivery to the target sites. Non-invasive molecular imaging technologies have emerged as prime methods for validating both these aspects ranging from preclinical level to clinical application. Reporter genes and the respective reporter probes are essential components of molecular functio Read More

Stem cell therapeutics is the future of regenerative medicine in the modern world. Many studies have been instigated with the hope of translating the outcome for the treatment of several disease conditions ranging from heart and neuronal disease to malignancies as grave as cancers. Stem cell therapeutics undoubtedly holds great promise on the front of regenerative medicine, however, the correct distribution and homing Read More

Implantable drug delivery systems (DDS) provide a platform for sustained release of therapeutic agents over a period of weeks to months and sometimes years. Such strategies are typically used clinically to increase patient compliance by replacing frequent administration of drugs such as contraceptives and hormones to maintain plasma concentration within the therapeutic window. Implantable or injectable systems have Read More