Designing Nanoparticle-based Drug Delivery Systems for Precision Medicine

Abstract

Traditional drugs are facing bottlenecks of lower solubility, absorption, and especially the inefficient organs or cells targeting during the precision medicine era. It is urgently needed to discover and establish new methods or strategies to modify old drugs or create new ones against the above defects. With the support of nanotechnology, the solubility, absorption and targeting of traditional drugs were greatly improved by modifying and fabricating with various types of nanoparticles to some extent, though many shortages remain. In this mini-review we will focus on advances in several most commonly used nanoparticles, from their nature and design, to drug delivery system and clinical application, that they overcome heterogeneous barriers in precision medicine, thereby ultimately improve patient outcome overall.

Zinc-Containing Sol–Gel Glass Nanoparticles to Deliver Therapeutic Ions

“…BAGs have been recently developed in nano-sized particles to use as therapeutic carriers because of their ability to enhance the cells’ uptake ability and increase bioactive properties through the release of ions locally inside the cells [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. As nanotechnology has been intensively introduced in medical applications, such as using nanoparticles (NPs), including gold nanoparticles, superparamagnetic nanoparticles, lipid-based nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, and silica nanoparticles [ 8 , 9 , 10 ], in drug delivery systems and imaging because of their unique properties, including a high specific area-to-volume ratio, bioactive glass nanoparticles (BAGNPs) have been introduced to improve the properties of BAGs. BAGNPs have been widely used in biomedical applications because of their small size, large specific surface area, and their large surface-to-volume ratio that gives them special properties [ 11 ].…”

Self-Amplifying RNA Approach for Protein Replacement Therapy

“…In case the expression of the protein is satisfactory, the plasmid should be linearized and in vitro transcribed. Consequently, the obtained RNA construct will be packed with lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) [ 51 ] or other delivery formulations [ 52 , 53 ] and, eventually, administered to experimental animals with the appropriate administration route [ 54 ]. This is conditioned by the research purposes.…”

Advancements in the Pharmaceutical Applications of Probiotics: Dosage Forms and Formulation Technology

“…Active ingredients can be encapsulated in nanocontainers to address various issues related to stability, solubility, safety, and target specificity. 156 Accordingly, probiotics can be formulated as polymeric nanoparticles, lipid-based nanoparticles, and inorganic nanoparticles. 156 In recent years, hybrid nanoparticles using two different materials (eg organic/inorganic, lipid/polymer nanoparticles) have been actively pursued to combine the advantages of each single system.…”

“… 156 Accordingly, probiotics can be formulated as polymeric nanoparticles, lipid-based nanoparticles, and inorganic nanoparticles. 156 In recent years, hybrid nanoparticles using two different materials (eg organic/inorganic, lipid/polymer nanoparticles) have been actively pursued to combine the advantages of each single system. Furthermore, the surface of nanoparticles can be decorated with ligands or functional materials for the targeted delivery or stimuli-responsive controlled release of probiotics.…”