Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 19, Issue 37, 2013

With the evolution of the “omics” era, our molecular understanding of cancer has exponentially increased, leading to the development of the concept of personalized medicine. Nanoparticle technology has emerged as a way to combine cancer specific targeting with multifunctionality, such as imaging and therapy, leading to advantages over conventional small molecule based approaches. In this review, we discuss the Read More

Advances of nanotechnology have led to the development of nanomaterials with both potential diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Among them, superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles have received particular attention. Over the past decade, various SPIOs with unique physicochemical and biological properties have been designed by modifying the particle structure, size and coating. This article reviews Read More

Design of cancer-targeting nanotherapeutics relies on a pair of two functionally orthogonal molecules, one serving as a cancer cell-specific targeting ligand, and the other as a therapeutic cytotoxic agent. The present study investigates the validity of an alternative simplified strategy where a dual-acting molecule which bears both targeting and cytotoxic activity is conjugated to the nanoparticle as cancer-targeting na Read More

Iron oxide (IO) nanoparticles hold great promise as diagnostic and therapeutic agents in oncology. Their intrinsic physical properties make IO nanoparticles particularly interesting for simultaneous drug delivery, molecular imaging, and applications such as localized hyperthermia. Multiple non-targeted IO nanoparticle preparations have entered clinical trials, but more exciting, new tumortargeted IO nanoparticle preparatio Read More

The unique properties of nanomaterials have propelled the field of nanomedicine. Nanomaterials have been used as drug delivery, imaging, and photothermal agents for diagnosis and therapy of diseases. Recently, photohyperthermia has attracted great interest from researchers and is actively being investigated as an alternative method of therapy for cancer and even bacteria. Photohyperthermia, or photothermal ther Read More

The discovery of drugs for Alzheimer's disease (AD) therapy that can also permeate the blood brain barrier (BBB) is very difficult owing to its specificity and restrictive nature. The BBB disruption or the administration of the drug directly into the brain is not an option due to toxic effects and low diffusion of the therapeutic molecule in the brain parenchyma. A promising approach for drug systemic delivery to the central nervo Read More

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of liposomes on the absorption of water-soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients. Salbutamol sulfate (SBS) has been widely used for treatment of bronchospasm in conditions such as asthma. Using SBS as the model drug in this study, we developed SBS-loaded liposomes for oral administration and explored the relationship between their bioavailability and anti-as Read More

The development of multidrug resistance (MDR) to chemotherapy is a major obstacle for the successful treatment of cancer. A number of mechanisms have been postulated to account for MDR in cancer. The most common and best-studied mechanism of resistance is mediated through the drug efflux protein P-glycoprotein (P-gp), which is overexpressed in drug-resistant cancer cells and is responsible for the re Read More

Nanotechnology has promising applications in biomedicine, such as in drug delivery, diagnosis, and tissue engineering. The pharmacokinetics of nanomaterials significantly affects their biological behavior in vivo, affecting their biomedical applications and potential nanotoxicity. In this review, we highlight some recent advances in the pharmacokinetic studies of representative nanomaterials. We focus on the relationships betw Read More

Iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles (IONPs) have received much attention for their utility in biomedical applications such as magnetic resonance imaging, drug delivery and hyperthermia. Recent studies reported that IONPs induced cytotoxicity in mammalian cells. However, little is known about the genotoxicity of IONPs following exposure to human cells. In this study, we investigated the cytotoxicity, oxidative stress and ge Read More

Nanosilver (nAg) is a considerably important nanomaterial due to its unique physical and chemical features and its intrinsic antimicrobial properties. Thus far, nAg has been widely applied in a variety of fields including biomedicine. Considering the safety and adverse influence, investigations into the biological fate and potential toxicity of nAg are essential for its safe and appropriate applications. In the current study, we exposed n Read More