Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 21, Issue 22, 2015

In recent decades, targeted nano-drug delivery systems have attracted extensive attention in cancer therapy for their efficient drug delivery and tumor site specificity. Tumor vasculature, including angiogenesis and vasculogenic mimicry is associated tightly with tumor growth, progression and metastasis. Therefore, nano-drug delivery systems targeting tumor vasculature are becoming a promising approach for tumor treatme Read More

Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne communicable disease, mainly caused by aerobic, non-motile, rodshaped, weakly gram-positive, acid-fast tubercular bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb). Mycobacterium has worsened the problem in humans by acquiring various types of resistances like Multi-drug resistance (MDR), Single-drug resistance (SDR), and Extensive drug resistance (XDR). Some clinical problems Read More

Hydrophilic polymers are the most common group of polymers used in the preparation of modifiedrelease drug delivery systems. This is due to their versatility, low cost, high production yield, as well as easy manufacturing and adequate in vitro/in vivo correlation. In normal physiological conditions, the matrix controls the release of the loaded drug over time through a process of diffusion and/or erosion of the matrix, dep Read More

In recent years, advances in biotechnology and protein engineering have enabled the production of large quantities of proteins and peptides as important therapeutic agents. Various researchers have used biocompatible functional polymers to prepare oral dosage forms of proteins and peptides for chronic use and for easier administration to enhance patient compliance. However, there is a need to enhance their safety Read More

Neurological disorders represent one of the major health concerns worldwide. Yet currently employed treatment strategies have not been very successful in the treatment of many of these disorders. One of the root causes of this lack of success is that many pharmaceutically active compounds are unable to reach their target sites of action inside the body. The delivery of substances from systemic circulation to the d Read More

Low water solubility of drug products causes delivery problems such as low bioavailability. The reduced particle size and increased surface area of nanocrystals lead to the increasing of the dissolution rate. The formulation of drug nanocrystals is a robust approach and has been widely applied to drug delivery system (DDS) due to the significant development of nanoscience and nanotechnology. It can be used to improve drug ef Read More

RNA-interference (RNAi) agents such as small-interfering RNA (siRNA) and micro-RNA (miRNA) have strong potential as therapeutic agents for the treatment of a broad range of diseases such as malignancies, infections, autoimmune diseases and neurological diseases that are associated with undesirable gene expression. In recent years, several clinical trials of RNAi therapeutics especially siRNAs have been conducted with limi Read More

Nano drug delivery systems are considered as useful means to remedy the problems of drugs of poor solubility, permeability and bioavailability, which became one of the most troublesome questions of the pharmaceutical industry. Different types of nanosized drug delivery systems have been developed and investigated for oral administration, providing auspicious solutions for drug development. In this paper nanosized dr Read More

In recent years, combination of different types of therapies using nanoparticles has emerged as an advanced strategy for cancer treatment. Most of all, combination of chemotherapeutic drug and siRNA in nanoformulation has shown a great potential, because siRNA-mediated specific gene silencing can compensate for the incomplete anti-cancer actions of chemotherapy. In this article, nanoparticle-based combination thera Read More

Cancer has been described as one of the major and leading causes of death worldwide. By the year 2030, it has been postulated that over 21.4 million new cases of cancer could be expected, 17 million cancer deaths yearly and a total of 75 million people will be living with cancer within five years of diagnosis. Chemotherapy is the main therapeutic intervention for treating people living with SCC. However, drug resistance has Read More

DNA origami technique was first introduced in 2006 by Rothemund, it has gained widespread research interest and led to explosive achievements, in which long single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) is folded into a designed nanostructure, in either two dimensions (2D) or three dimensions (3D), with the aid of many shorter staple strands. A series of methods for new design principles for DNA origami nanostructures have already been pr Read More

Knocking down expression by small interfering RNA (siRNA) has shown high affinity, specificity and potency in silencing target gene sites. For effective endogenous RNA interference (RNAi), proper siRNA delivery vehicles are essential, to take the siRNA inside cells and protect them during the circulation. Carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) have been successfully applied in biomedicine and biosensor based on their ultra-high surf Read More

Plant proteins have been drawing increasing attention owing to their safety, abundance and relatively low cost in comparison with animal proteins. The development of plant protein-based delivery vehicles may lead to the provision of novel pharmaceutical products to patients. Zein is a class of alcohol-soluble prolamine proteins present in maize endosperm that was approved as a generally recognised as safe excipient in 1985 b Read More

Resistance of solid tumors to treatment is significantly attributed to pharmacokinetic reasons at both cellular and multi-cellular levels. Anticancer agent must be bio-available at the site of action in a cytotoxic concentration to exert its proposed activity. Solid tumor tissue is characterized by high density of vascular bed however; the vast majority of these blood vessels are not functioning. The vast majority of solid tumors can Read More

Nano graphene oxide (nGO) is a member of graphene family, which is a novel, one-atom-thickness, two-dimensional carbon nanomaterial. In comparison with graphene, nGO contains much higher extent of reactive chemical functionalities such as hydroxyl, carbonyl, carboxyl, and epoxy group, so as to enable its easier biochemo-functionalization, higher biocompatibility, and greater potentials of applications in biomedicin Read More

Symptomatic distresses associated with common ophthalmic infections and their persistence, have remained a tribulation with repeated occurrences. Although being a directly accessible organ, traditional therapeutic strategies exhibiting seemingly fruitful outcome in treatment and prognosis of eye disorders call for improvement in disease intervention. This is due to frequent challenges presented by the ophthalmic Read More

Electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) enabling platform technologies have gathered significant momentum over the last two decades. Utilisation of the underpinning jetting process in tandem with desired materials (including polymers, ceramics, metals and even naturally occurring compounds such as peptides, DNA and cells) provides the basis for novel engineered therapies. Through EHDA processes, the generatio Read More

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors are promising human gene delivery vehicles due to their ability to establish long-term gene expression in a wide variety of target tissues; however, the broad native viral tropism raises concerns over the feasibility and safety of their systemic administration. To overcome this issue, much effort has been made to redirect AAVs toward specific tissues. This review presents severa Read More