This volume is a continuation of Volume 1 following the previously published Editorial. More emphasis is given to novel nanocarrier designs, their characterization and function, and applications for drug discovery and treatment. A number of chapters will deal with nanofibers as a new major application within the biomedical field with a very high success rate particularly in wound healing and diabetic foot and spine injuries. A major new subdivision will deal with mathematical methods for the assembly of nanocarriers both for simulation and function.
This book features a special subsection of Nanomedicine, an application of nanotechnology to achieve breakthroughs in healthcare. It exploits the improved and often novel physical, chemical and biological properties of materials only existent at the nanometer scale. As a consequence of small scale, nanosystems in most cases are efficiently uptaken by cells and appear to act at the intracellular level. Nanotechnology has the potential to improve diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of diseases, and includes targeted drug delivery and regenerative medicine; it creates new tools and methods that impact significantly upon existing conservative practices. This volume is a collection of authoritative reviews. In the introductory section we define the field (intracellular delivery). Then, the fundamental routes of nanodelivery devices, cellular uptake, types of delivery devices, particularly in terms of localized cellular delivery, both for small drug molecules, macromolecular drugs and genes; at the academic and applied levels, are covered. The following section is dedicated to enhancing delivery via special targeting motifs followed by the introduction of different types of intracellular nanodelivery devices (e.g. a brief description of their chemistry) and ways of producing these different devices. Finally, we put special emphasis on particular disease states and on other biomedical applications, whilst diagnostic and sensing issues are also included. Intracellular delivery / therapy is a highly topical which will stir great interest. Intracellular delivery enables much more efficient drug delivery since the impact (on different organelles and sites) is intracellular as the drug is not supplied externally within the blood stream. There is great potential for targeted delivery with improved localized delivery and efficacy.
This book elaborates on drug delivery targeting via intracellular delivery, specifically through the Receptor Mediated Endocytosis (RME) approach, due to the involvement of cellular receptors in various grave diseases. Targeted delivery relies on two basic approaches, passive and active targeting. While passive targeting approaches have shown great promise, the improved selectivity achieved with active targeting approaches has resulted in significantly higher efficacy. Interestingly there are numerous strategies for active targeting, many of which are already highlighted in , Targeted Drug Delivery: Concepts and Applications. Nevertheless an exciting and practical strategy for active targeting, which could enable high intracellular delivery, is through exploitation of RME. Cells in the body express receptors to enable various physiological and biochemical processes. As a result, many of these receptors are overexpressed in pathological conditions, or newer receptors expressed due to defective cellular functioning. RME is based on exploitation of such receptors to achieve intracellular delivery. While targeted delivery can have manifold applications, in this book we focus on two major and challenging therapeutic areas; i) Cancer and ii) Infectious Diseases. Targeted Intracellular Drug Delivery by Receptor Medicated Endocytosis discusses the major receptors that are useful for targeted delivery for these afflictions. A major section of this book is dedicated to details regarding their occurrence and location, the recognition domain of the receptor, structure activity relationship of substrate /ligand for selective binding, ligands explored, antagonists for ligand binding and relevance of these aspects for therapy of cancer and infectious diseases. These facets are elucidated with the help of specific examples from academic research and also emphasize commercial products, wherever relevant. In vitro cellular models relied on for assessing receptor mediated cellular targeting and in vivo models depicting clinical efficacy are focused on in a separate section. Finally, we briefly discuss the regulatory and toxicity issues that may be associated specifically with the RME approach of intracellular drug delivery.
Following its successful predecessor, this book covers the fundamentals, delivery routes and vehicles, and practical applications of drug delivery. In the 2nd edition, almost all chapters from the previous are retained and updated and several new chapters added to make a more complete resource and reference. • Helps readers understand progress in drug delivery research and applications • Updates and expands coverage to reflect advances in materials for delivery vehicles, drug delivery approaches, and therapeutics • Covers recent developments including transdermal and mucosal delivery, lymphatic system delivery, theranostics • Adds new chapters on nanoparticles, controlled drug release systems, theranostics, protein and peptide drugs, and biologics delivery
A critical review is attempted to assess the status of nanomedicine entry onto the market. The emergence of new potential therapeutic entities such as DNA and RNA fragments requires that these new “drugs” will need to be delivered in a cell-and organelle-specific manner. Although efforts have been made over the last 50 years or so to develop such delivery technology, no effective and above all clinically approved protocol for cell-specific drug delivery in humans exists as yet. Various particles, macromolecules, liposomes and most recently “nanomaterials” have been said to “show promise” but none of these promises have so far been “reduced” to human clinical practice. The focus of this volume is on cancer indication since the majority of published research relates to this application; within that, we focus on solid tumors (solid malignancies). Our aim is critically to evaluate whether nanomaterials, both non-targeted and targeted to specific cells, could be of therapeutic benefit in clinical practice. The emphasis of this volume will be on pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) in animal and human studies. Apart from the case of exquisitely specific antibody-based drugs, the development of target-specific drug–carrier delivery systems has not yet been broadly successful at the clinical level. It can be argued that drugs generated using the conventional means of drug development (i.e., relying on facile biodistribution and activity after (preferably) oral administration) are not suitable for a target-specific delivery and would not benefit from such delivery even when a seemingly perfect delivery system is available. Therefore, successful development of site-selective drug delivery systems will need to include not only the development of suitable carriers, but also the development of drug entities that meet the required PK/PD profile.
This book covers the past, present and future of the intra-cellular trafficking field, which has made a quantum leap in the last few decades. It details how the field has developed and evolved as well as examines future directions.
Comprehensive Biomaterials II, Second Edition, Seven Volume Set brings together the myriad facets of biomaterials into one expertly-written series of edited volumes. Articles address the current status of nearly all biomaterials in the field, their strengths and weaknesses, their future prospects, appropriate analytical methods and testing, device applications and performance, emerging candidate materials as competitors and disruptive technologies, research and development, regulatory management, commercial aspects, and applications, including medical applications. Detailed coverage is given to both new and emerging areas and the latest research in more traditional areas of the field. Particular attention is given to those areas in which major recent developments have taken place. This new edition, with 75% new or updated articles, will provide biomedical scientists in industry, government, academia, and research organizations with an accurate perspective on the field in a manner that is both accessible and thorough. Reviews the current status of nearly all biomaterials in the field by analyzing their strengths and weaknesses, performance, and future prospects Covers all significant emerging technologies in areas such as 3D printing of tissues, organs and scaffolds, cell encapsulation; multimodal delivery, cancer/vaccine - biomaterial applications, neural interface understanding, materials used for in situ imaging, and infection prevention and treatment Effectively describes the many modern aspects of biomaterials from basic science, to clinical applications
This book represents the results of 45 years of research on a wide range of topics, including atomic physics, single-molecule enzymology, whole-cell metabolism, physiology, pharmacology, linguistics, semiotics, and cosmology. It describes the first comprehensive molecular theory of the genotype-phenotype coupling based on two key theoretical concepts: (i) the conformon, the conformational wave packet in biopolymers carrying both the free energy and genetic information; and (ii) the intracellular dissipative structures, the chemical concentration waves inside the cell that serve as the immediate drivers of all cell functions. Conformons provide the driving forces for all molecular machines in the cell, and intracellular dissipative structures coordinate intra- and intercellular processes such as gene expression and cell-cell communications.One of the predictions made by the cell language theory (CLT) is that there are two forms of genetic information — the Watson-Crick genes transmitting information in time (identified with DNA), and the Prigoginian genes transmitting information in space (identified with RNA expression profiles). The former is analogous to sheet music or written language and the latter is akin to audio music or spoken language, both being coupled by conformons acting as the analog of the pianist. The new theory of DNA structure and function constructed on the basis of CLT can rationally account for most of the puzzling findings recently unearthed by the ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) project.The Cell Language Theory has important applications in biomedical sciences including drug discovery research and personalized medicine on the one hand and in the mind-body research and consciousness studies on the other.
