Interfacing Materials Science and Biology for Drug Carrier Design
Year: 2015
Type: review
Abstract: Over the last ten years, there has been considerable research interest in the development of polymeric carriers for biomedicine. Such delivery systems have the potential to significantly reduce side effects and increase the bioavailability of poorly soluble therapeutics. The design of carriers has relied on harnessing specific variations in biological conditions, such as pH or redox potential, and more recently, by incorporating specific peptide cleavage sites for enzymatic hydrolysis. Although much progress has been made in this field, the specificity of polymeric carriers is still limited when compared with their biological counterparts. To synthesize the next generation of carriers, it is important to consider the biological rationale for materials design. This requires a detailed understanding of the cellular microenvironments and how these can be harnessed for specific applications. In this review, several important physiological cues in the cellular microenvironments are outlined, with a focus on changes in pH, redox potential, and the types of enzymes present in specific regions. Furthermore, recent studies that use such biologically inspired triggers to design polymeric carriers are highlighted, focusing on applications in the field of therapeutic delivery.
Source: Advanced Materials
Institutions: The University of Melbourne, Monash University
Language: English
Subfield: Biomaterials
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Australian Research Council
Awards: Advanced bio-inspired polymer assembly: tools for diagnostics, imaging and therapies, Bridging the interface between nanoengineered materials and biological systems, Cellular dynamics of nanoengineered particles, Engineering materials for advances in nanomedicine, ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology
OpenAlex ID: W2167263245