Leveraging Physiology for Precision Drug Delivery
Abstract
Physiological characteristics of diseases bring about both challenges and opportunities for targeted drug delivery. Various drug delivery platforms have been devised ranging from macro- to micro- and further into the nanoscopic scale in the past decades. Recently, the favorable physicochemical properties of nanomaterials, including long circulation, robust tissue and cell penetration attract broad interest, leading to extensive studies for therapeutic benefits. Accumulated knowledge about the physiological barriers that affect the in vivo fate of nanomedicine has led to more rational guidelines for tailoring the nanocarriers, such as size, shape, charge, and surface ligands. Meanwhile, progresses in material chemistry and molecular pharmaceutics generate a panel of physiological stimuli-responsive modules that are equipped into the formulations to prepare “smart” drug delivery systems. The capability of harnessing physiological traits of diseased tissues to control the accumulation of or drug release from nanomedicine has further improved the controlled drug release profiles with a precise manner. Successful clinical translation of a few nano-formulations has excited the collaborative efforts from the research community, pharmaceutical industry, and the public towards a promising future of smart drug delivery.
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The blood-brain barrier rejects most small molecule drugs and large therapeutic molecules including growth factors and antibodies due to its barrier function and highly effective active efflux systems.
“First, with its barrier function and highly effective active efflux systems, the BBB rejects most of the small molecule drugs and large therapeutic molecules including growth factors and antibodies (42, 567, 682).”
From Blood-Brain Barrier: From Physiology to Disease and Back (2019) · cites this paper as [567]
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Blood-Brain Barrier: From Physiology to Disease and Back
Sweeney, M. D., Zhao, Z., Montagne, A., Nelson, A. R., & Zlokovic, B. V. (2019) · Physiological Reviews · doi:10.1152/physrev.00050.2017 · Cited by 2,294 · see citing works
- Authors
- Sun, W., Hu, Q., Ji, W., Wright, G., & Gu, Z.
- Affiliations
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Venue
- Physiological Reviews
- Publisher
- American Physiological Society
- Published
- 2017-01
- Volume
- 97
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 189-225
- ISSN
- 0031-9333 (ISSN-L)
- 1522-1210
- OpenAlex
- W2551124141
- Cited by
- 169
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 1.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Physiological Reviews (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- NC TraCS
- NIH (1UL1TR001111)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Biomaterials › Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmaceutical Science › Advanced Drug Delivery Systems
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Polymers and Plastics › Dendrimers and Hyperbranched Polymers
- Keywords
- precision drug delivery, nanomedicine, nanocarriers, physiological barriers, stimuli-responsive drug delivery, controlled drug release, tissue penetration, clinical translation of nanomedicine
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