What is it about?
We highlight the possibility of creating advanced drug-loaded particles that have a more dynamic and adaptive response to changing physical and chemical cues in their environment by adopting a bottom-up synthetic biology strategy. By mimicking the feedback-response of natural biochemical processes, drug delivery systems might be developed that respond to changing concentrations of specific metabolites in their environment to dynamically modulate the release of their drug payload, including the possibility of oscillatory release that is in sync with natural biological rhythms.
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Why is it important?
The biological environment in a patient's body is unique to the individual and changes in rhythmic cycles with different timescales. A more optimal therapy could be achieved by developing drug delivery systems that sense and respond to this unique and changing environment, i.e., by changing the release rate of the encapsulated drug in response to these cues.
Perspectives
The individual components are in place in the scientific literature that will provide the foundations of research to develop adaptive nanomedicines: drug encapsulation in nanoparticles, enzymatic nanoreactors and feedback-responsive chemical systems. By reviewing these aspects in one place and providing a perspective of how they might be combined, we hope to provide an important resource for research groups aiming to develop more sophisticated drug delivery systems that behave more like a natural biological system.
Paul Beales
University of Leeds
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Towards feedback-controlled nanomedicines for smart, adaptive delivery, Experimental Biology and Medicine, September 2018, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/1535370218800456.
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