Systemic Drug Delivery to the Posterior Segment of the Eye: Overcoming Blood–Retinal Barrier Through Smart Drug Design and Nanotechnology

Ranganath, Sudhir H.; Thanuja, M. Y.; Anupama, C.; Manjunatha, T. D.

doi:10.1007/978-981-15-7998-1_6

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 212 publications

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“…Targeted delivery can also be achieved by modifying the surface with coating layers [114][115][116][117][118], or environmentally sensitive moieties that react to differences such as pH, ROS, temperature, light, enzymes, etc., in order to promote controlled release only in the relevant microenvironment, often created by a pathological change [119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126][127]. These different ligands have been developed and improved in the last decade to increase their specificity and thereby enhance the ability of NMeds to cross barriers (i.e., BBB or blood-retinal barrier) and/or the accumulation of NMeds only in the target cells [128,129]. Notwithstanding the great advancement in targeting specificity, TNTs are currently under investigation for their potential role in diminishing this targeting effect due to intercellular transport by exchanging NMeds from a correctly targeted cell towards a neighboring off-target one.…”

Section: Nanomedicinementioning

confidence: 99%

Tunneling Nanotubes: A New Target for Nanomedicine?

Ottonelli

Caraffi

Tosi

et al. 2022

IJMS

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Tunneling nanotubes (TNTs), discovered in 2004, are thin, long protrusions between cells utilized for intercellular transfer and communication. These newly discovered structures have been demonstrated to play a crucial role in homeostasis, but also in the spreading of diseases, infections, and metastases. Gaining much interest in the medical research field, TNTs have been shown to transport nanomedicines (NMeds) between cells. NMeds have been studied thanks to their advantageous features in terms of reduced toxicity of drugs, enhanced solubility, protection of the payload, prolonged release, and more interestingly, cell-targeted delivery. Nevertheless, their transfer between cells via TNTs makes their true fate unknown. If better understood, TNTs could help control NMed delivery. In fact, TNTs can represent the possibility both to improve the biodistribution of NMeds throughout a diseased tissue by increasing their formation, or to minimize their formation to block the transfer of dangerous material. To date, few studies have investigated the interaction between NMeds and TNTs. In this work, we will explain what TNTs are and how they form and then review what has been published regarding their potential use in nanomedicine research. We will highlight possible future approaches to better exploit TNT intercellular communication in the field of nanomedicine.

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