Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology

The dramatic advances of nanotechnology in drug delivery and tissue engineering have been revolutionizing the development and research of the relevant biomedical products. Nano/micro-scale delivery vehicles can improve therapeutic effectiveness and minimize the adverse reaction of marketed drugs such as doxorubicin and amphotericin B. Moreover, nanotechnology-driven approach enables new therapeutic strategies including gene therapy, theranostic, medical implants or scaffolds with biocompatible nanomaterials. Currently, nanotechnology has shown a large number of promising results in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases according to the preclinical studies or clinical trials. However, only a handful of these nanotechnology-based products successfully obtained marketing authorization. Thus, more knowledge accumulation and further maturation of nanotechnology especially in clinical translation are urgently needed to provide better biomedical supplies for healthcare improvement. This Special Thematic Issue of Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology provides the recent status of nanotechnology for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. Two review articles and three research articles cover nanomedicines and biomaterials in cancer therapy, infection treatment and tissue engineering. The first review by Long et al. [1] focuses on silk fibroin-based microparticle systems manufactured by various methods. As a natural biomaterial, silk fibroin can fully exploit the nanotech superiority. The authors address the advantages and challenges of the silk fibroin microparticles in biomedical applications. Li [2] and co-workers highlight the application of nanotechnology in antifungal drug delivery for the treatment of deep fungal infection. Due to inadequate researches in this area, the current drug delivery approaches cannot meet the clinical demand. An overview of potential strategies based on nanotechnology is presented in this review. Liposomes, one of the successfully marketed nanostructures, are widely used in delivering drugs with different physiochemical properties. Xiao et al. [3] developed a novel long-circulating doxorubicin-loaded liposome using inexpensive excipients (egg yolk lecithin and Kolliphor HS15). This liposome is promising for clinical translation due to rational design. The in vivo fate of nanosized drug delivery system is critical to the therapeutic efficacy and adversities. The influence of serum protein absorption on the in vivo mRNA expression of the mannose-modified targeting liposome loaded with mRNA vaccine for tumor therapy was investigated by He et al. [4]. The quality control is the focus of an article by Yang et al. [5]. The authors established a new method to assess the virulence of nanosized reovirus particles potential for the treatment cancers, which is also helpful for its clinical translation. Generally, this Special Issue provides the present advance of nanotechnology in the applications of biomaterials and nanoparticle/microparticle-based drug delivery systems. The authors draw future research directions promoting the clinical translation of more nanotechnology-based products. We hope that this Special Theme Issue on Nanotechnology in Biomaterials and Pharmaceutics can benefit the relevant researchers and stimulate new endeavors in the pharmaceutical and biomedical fields. Finally, we thank all the participants, including the editors, authors and reviewers for the organization of this Special Issue.

Nano/microtechnology has been widely applied in biomaterials and pharmaceutics fields to enhance biocompatibility and penetration to realized targeting and controlled release in various dosage forms and different administration. For instance, the application of nanotechnology in ophthalmological treatment is particularly important to reduce the discomfort, for the eyes are sensitive to external stimulation. The contributions in this Special Issue include a review by Natesan and Boddu et al. [1] that emphasizes on preclinical and clinical studies of nanocarrier systems in ophthalmology treatment. The synthesis, characterization and pharmaceutical application of hydrogel materials for potential cataract treatment were designed at the nanoscale by Xiang et al. [2]. The integration of indomethacin in the monomer of hydrogel polymer can filter harmful short-wavelength blue light, increase the hydrophilicity and control drug release. The use of micro/nanotechnology in self-emulsifying drug delivery system is highlighted in the review paper by Zhu et al. [3] who explored the effect of ingredient and physicochemical property (particle size and Zeta potential) on the oral drug bioavailability enhancement. Wang et al. [4] utilized HPLC method to simultaneously determine the microscopic permeability and the absorption in different intestinal segments. The Editors extend their gratitude to the authors for their interest and contributions to this timely Special Theme Issue. We also thank the reviewers for their time and expertise in providing an appraisal of the manuscripts and their comments to help improve the quality of the submissions. It is hoped that this Special Theme issue on Nano/Microtechnology in Biomaterials and Pharmaceutics may stimulate new collaboration in this area and promote the nano/microtechnology to clinical practical application.

Microfluidics is a recent advance in formulation science that is a superior method for the synthesis of uniform nanoparticles for drug delivery and related applications where colloidal systems are utilized. Using microfluidics, small volumes of liquid reagents are rapidly mixed in microchannels in a highly controlled manner to form tunable nanomedicines for tailored drug delivery. The reproducibility of the technique is a desirable feature to meet the demands of the pharmaceutical regulatory requirements. Commercially available microfluidics systems are now available to enable production at relevant scales for manufacturing applications. Coupling the microfluidics systems to advanced analytical methods such as microscopy, spectroscopic techniques and X-ray diffraction enables enhanced understanding of particle formation mechanisms and structure. This special thematic issue of Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology highlights recent state-of-the-art advances in the utilization of microfluidics for the design of nanomedicines. Particle formation and in situ particle functionalization are a focus, with studies on polymer and lipid-based particles being a feature. This special issue also illustrates the breadth of approaches and applications that are possible with this microfluidics technology. The contributions in this special issue include a review by Streck and Hong et al. [1] that covers the foundations of the types of microfluidics mixers used in the pharmaceutical context, key considerations for the production of both lipid and polymer systems and outlines process-related variables that influence nanoparticle properties. The important feature of batch-to-batch consistency was investigated by Poller et al. [2] for PLGA nanoparticles, with the addition of albumin to the aqueous phase being identified as a strategy to assist in tuning nanoparticle physicochemical properties. Solid lipid nanoparticles are the focus of an article by Anderluzzi et al. [3] that draws on the considerable experience in the Perrie lab for using microfluidics to produce lipid nanomedicines in a high-throughput and scalable process. The use of microfluidics to produce stimuli-responsive nano drug delivery systems is highlighted in the paper by Hong et al. [4] who have applied the technique to the fabrication of cubosomes. Analysis using small angle Xray scattering revealed that the internal structure of the cubosomes was influenced by the processing conditions. The use of plant extracts for their therapeutic effect is becoming increasingly interesting in human medicine. Vu et al. [5] present research formulating the antioxidant compound rutin into PLGA nanoparticles as a strategy to improve the low oral bioavailability. In this paper, the authors compared a traditional bulk production method with microfluidics and conclude that microfluidics results in more uniform nanoparticles with higher entrapment of rutin compared to a bulk method. The Editors extend their gratitude to the authors for their interest and contributions to this timely special theme issue. We also thank the reviewers for their time and expertise for provide an appraisal of the manuscripts and their comments to help improve the quality of the submissions. It is hoped that this special theme issue on Microfluidics in nanomedicine may stimulate new endeavours in this area and encourages adoption of this technique as a superior production method to synthesise nanomedicines.

The era of application of smart therapeutic systems employing targeted drug delivery strategies for effective treatment of diseases was started almost several decades. Several research efforts have been undertaken with time in this area for developing the newer formulation systems and devices. Despite the advantages of the new developing drugs, the benefits of adopting the modified treatment strategies are highly promising. Among these, the use of bioinspired drug delivery systems acclaimed with biodegradable and biocompatible properties has gained increasing acceptance. The current editorial delivers an insight into a series of reviews compiled befitting the title of the special issue. In this thematic issue, a compilation of five review articles is presented focusing on general aspects of bio-inspired nanosystems in therapeutics and disease treatment. This special issue has provided a comprehensive perspective on the concept of bio-inspired smart drug delivery carriers include scheming and developing biocompatible nanomaterials which can be loaded with cargo for specific drug delivery application. Such carriers are used for versatile applications in delivering drugs and pharmaceuticals for therapeutic applications, biological markers and contrast agents for imaging applications, genes and nucleic acids for gene therapy applications. Some instances of the bio-inspired nanocarriers include formulations prepared from bio-nanocomposite materials such as cellulose, chitosan, starch, polylactic acid, polyhydroxyalkanoates, etc. With the dimensional size range between 0.1-100 nm, the polymeric nanocomposites have been heavily explored in cancer research, immunomodulation, tissue engineering, stem cell therapy, cellular and molecular treatment. Besides these, a series of modifications in the preparations of such nanocarriers have been tried [1]. In this regard, the bio-inspired metallic nanoparticles have been proved useful in the delivery of drugs to the brain for the treatment of seizure, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Silica-based nanocomposites are useful in tissue engineering, imaging, therapeutic and disease-related diagnostic applications [2]. Hydroxyapatite nanocomposites and rosette nanotubes have been found useful as scaffolds in nucleic acid engineering applications. Graphene-based nanocomposites are also useful in photodynamic therapy against cancer treatment and tissue engineering applications. Recently, there are derivatized systems such as polymeric nanocomposites loaded with nanoparticles were reported in the literature with innovative applications in gene delivery [3]. Modified polymers composed of cartilages and muscles are useful in tissue engineering applications to produce the mechanically stiff interpenetrating network to facilitate the growth of bone mass. Moreover, the spatially controlled hydrogel nanocomposites have been designed for controlling cellular microenvironments for mimicking tissue complexity. The microarrays of bioadhesive nanocomposite microgels have been designed with tunable physical and chemical properties to obtain the modular sizes and tailored adhesive biomolecule compositions [2]. Overall, these nano devices reported in the literature also have variegated applications as scaffolds with additional advantage of drug delivery to the local tissues. These bio-inspired nanocarriers are capable of carrying bioactive molecules to the target sites based on their ability to act in response to the environmental stimuli available in living cells and/or human body. Besides, the bio-inspired nanosystems are constituted of lipids, polymers, and biomaterials, thus utilize endogenous responsiveness sensors for targeted drug delivery application. Moreover, external stimuli such as heat, light, magnetic or electric field and ultrasounds, as well as endogenous ones, such as temperature change, pH variations, redox potential and ionic strength differences can distress the responsiveness of a bio-inspired smart nano-system for drug delivery [4]. The content of this thematic issue also highlights the key opportunities and challenges in the development of bio-inspired smart nanocarriers for therapeutic management [5]. Beyond the literature reports, the articles of this thematic issue has incorporated future prospects in the field useful to the readers.

No Text Found

No Text Found