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Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Department of Oncology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E1, Canada. Electronic address:

Nanoparticle platforms are particularly attractive for theranostic applications due to their capacity for multifunctionality and multivalency. Some of the most promising nano-scale scaffold systems have been co-opted from nature including plant viruses such as cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV). The use of plant viruses like CPMV as viral nanoparticles is advantageous for many reasons; they are non-infectious and nontoxic to humans and safe for use in intravital imaging and drug delivery. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

School of Pharmacy, The Faculty of Medical Sciences, King George VI Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK; Division of Stratified Medicine, Biomarkers & Therapeutics, Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK. Electronic address:

Redirecting the recognition specificity of T lymphocytes to designated tumour cell surface antigens by transferring chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) genes is becoming an effective strategy to combat cancer. Today, CAR T-cell therapy has proven successful in the treatment of haematological malignancies and the first CD19 CAR T-cell products has already entered the market. This success is expanding CAR design for broader malignancies including solid tumours. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Apr 16. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Columbia University, New York, USA. Electronic address:

Tissue engineering is becoming increasingly successful in providing in vitro models of human tissues that can be used for ex vivo recapitulation of functional tissues as well as predictive testing of drug efficacy and safety. From simple tissue models to microphysiological platforms comprising multiple tissue types connected by vascular perfusion, these "tissues on a chip" are emerging as a fast track application for tissue engineering, with great potential for modeling diseases and supporting the development of new drugs and therapeutic targets. We focus here on tissue engineering of the hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell compartment and the malignancies that develop in the human bone and bone marrow. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Apr 12. Epub 2019 Apr 12.

TCR(2) Therapeutics, 100 Binney St., Suite 710, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. Electronic address:

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells have been remarkably successful in patients with hematological malignancies expressing the CD19 surface antigen, but such level of success is far from being replicated in solid tumors. Engineered T cell receptor (TCR) T cells targeting cancer antigens were first developed over two decades ago and represent an alternative adoptive T cell approach that has produced provocative clinical data in solid cancers. However, several factors may hinder this technology from realizing its full potential, including the need for HLA matching, HLA downregulation by cancer cells, the suppressive tumor microenvironment, and tissue liabilities resulting from targeting antigens shared with normal tissues. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Apr 8. Epub 2019 Apr 8.

School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK. Electronic address:

Mucus is a dynamic barrier which covers and protects the underlying mucosal epithelial membrane against bacteria and foreign particles. This protection mechanism extends to include therapeutic macromolecules and nanoparticles (NPs) through trapping of these particles. Mucus is not only a physical barrier that limiting particles movements based on their sizes but it selectively binds with particles through both hydrophilic and lipophilic interactions. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Apr 6. Epub 2019 Apr 6.

Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Clinical Sciences Building, 11 Mandalay Road, 308232, Singapore; Skin Research Institute Singapore, Clinical Sciences Building, 11 Mandalay Road, 308232, Singapore. Electronic address:

Acute wound healing is an orderly process of four overlapping events: haemostasis, inflammation, proliferation and remodelling. A drug delivery system with a temporal control of release could promote each of these events sequentially. However, acute wound healing normally proceeds very well in healthy individuals and there is little need to promote it. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Jan 25;138:259-275. Epub 2018 Oct 25.

Department of Materials, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK; Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK; Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK; Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE-171 77, Sweden. Electronic address:

Over the past few decades, a range of vesicle-based drug delivery systems have entered clinical practice and several others are in various stages of clinical translation. While most of these vesicle constructs are lipid-based (liposomes), or polymer-based (polymersomes), recently new classes of vesicles have emerged that defy easy classification. Examples include assemblies with small molecule amphiphiles, biologically derived membranes, hybrid vesicles with two or more classes of amphiphiles, or more complex hierarchical structures such as vesicles incorporating gas bubbles or nanoparticulates in the lumen or membrane. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Jan;138:1-2

Laboratoire Matière et Systèmes Complexes (MSC), UMR 7075, CNRS and Université Paris Diderot, Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (USPC), 10 Rue Alice Domon et Léonie Duquet, 75205 Paris Cedex 13, France. Electronic address:

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Mar 26. Epub 2019 Mar 26.

Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, UMR7281 Bioénergétique et Ingénierie des Protéines, 31 chemin Joseph Aiguier, 13402 Marseille cedex 09, France. Electronic address:

The lipids and some surfactants present in oral lipid-based drug delivery systems are potential substrates for the various lipases involved in gastrointestinal (GI) lipolysis. The levels of these enzymes, together with pH and biliairy secretion, are important parameters that condition the fate of lipid-based formulations (LBF) and the dispersion, solubilization and absorption of lipophilic drugs in the GI tract. Since in vitro methods of digestion are now combined with dissolution assays for a better assessment of LBF performance, it is essential to have a basic knowledge on lipase, pH and bile acid (BA) levels in vivo to develop relevant in vitro models. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Mar 22. Epub 2019 Mar 22.

School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637459, Singapore; Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 308232, Singapore. Electronic address:

Neural tissue regeneration following traumatic injuries is often subpar. As a result, the field of neural tissue engineering has evolved to find therapeutic interventions and has seen promising outcomes. However, robust nerve and myelin regeneration remain elusive. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Mar 19. Epub 2019 Mar 19.

Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University Medical Center, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany; DZHK (German Center for Cardiovascular Research), Göttingen, Germany. Electronic address:

Facilitated by the introduction of human induced pluripotent stem cells and protocols for their efficient directed differentiation at high quantity and quality, innovative human heart muscle models are being developed for applications in drug screens. Employed models range from the microscopic cardiomyocytes-on-a-chip scale to the cardiac macrotissues-on-a-plate scale. Whilst cardiomyocyte-on-a-chip models can be readily adapted to high-throughput primary screening, they are limited as to the deep phenotyping of contractility, and here in particular contractile force development. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Mar 18. Epub 2019 Mar 18.

Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.

Given the successful entry of several liposomal drug products into market, and some with decades of clinical efficacy, liposomal drug delivery systems have proven capabilities to overcome certain limitations of traditional drug delivery, especially for toxic and biologic drugs. This experience has helped promote new liposomal approaches to emerging drug classes and current therapeutic challenges. All approved liposomal dosage forms are parenteral formulations, a pathway demonstrating greatest safety and efficacy to date. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Mar 4. Epub 2019 Mar 4.

Center for Nanomedicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger, Inc., Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins University for Cerebral Palsy Research Excellence, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA. Electronic address:

Nanotechnology has the potential to open many novel diagnostic and treatment avenues for disorders of the central nervous system (CNS). In this review, we discuss recent developments in the applications of nanotechnology in CNS therapies, diagnosis and biology. Novel approaches for the diagnosis and treatment of neuroinflammation, brain dysfunction, psychiatric conditions, brain cancer, and nerve injury provide insights into the potential of nanomedicine. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Feb 21. Epub 2019 Feb 21.

Department of Nanomedicine, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Electronic address:

The pericardium, which surrounds the heart, provides a unique enclosed volume and a site for the delivery of agents to the heart and coronary arteries. While strategies for targeting the delivery of therapeutics to the heart are lacking, various technologies and nanodelivery approaches are emerging as promising methods for site specific delivery to increase therapeutic myocardial retention, efficacy, and bioactivity, while decreasing undesired systemic effects. Here, we provide a literature review of various approaches for intrapericardial delivery of agents. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Feb 22. Epub 2019 Feb 22.

CONRAD, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Arlington, VA, USA. Electronic address:

Nanocarriers (synthetic/cell-based have attracted enormous interest for various therapeutic indications, including neurodegenerative disorders. A broader understanding of the impact of nanomedicines design is now required to enhance their translational potential. Nanoformulations in vivo journey is significantly affected by their physicochemical properties including the size, shape, hydrophobicity, elasticity, and surface charge/chemistry/morphology, which play a role as an interface with the biological environment. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Feb 21. Epub 2019 Feb 21.

Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 98 Brett Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey, 599 Taylor Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, United States. Electronic address:

Glucocorticoids influence a wide array of metabolic, anti-inflammatory, immunosuppressive, and cognitive signaling processes, playing an important role in homeostasis and preservation of normal organ function. Synthesis is regulated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis of which cortisol is the primary glucocorticoid in humans. Synthetic glucocorticoids are important pharmacological agents that augment the anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties of endogenous cortisol and are widely used for the treatment of asthma, Crohn's disease, and rheumatoid arthritis, amongst other chronic conditions. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Feb 21. Epub 2019 Feb 21.

Institut Galien Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, Université Paris Saclay, Châtenay-Malabry, France. Electronic address:

Adenosine is a fascinating compound, crucial in many biochemical processes: this ubiquitous nucleoside serves as an essential building block of RNA, is also a component of ATP and regulates numerous pathophysiological mechanisms via binding to four extracellular receptors. Due to its hydrophilic nature, it belongs to a different world than lipids, and has no affinity for them. Since the 1970's, however, new discoveries have emerged and prompted the scientific community to associate adenosine with the lipid family, especially via liposomal preparations and bioconjugation. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Feb 21. Epub 2019 Feb 21.

Department of Neuroscience and Mahoney Institute for Neurosciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; The Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; The Epigenetics Institute, Perelman School for Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Electronic address:

The convergence of nanoparticles and stem cell therapy holds great promise for the study, diagnosis, and treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. Researchers aim to harness the power of nanoparticles to regulate cellular microenvironment, improve the efficiency of cell and drug delivery to the brain, and enhance the survival of stem cell transplants. Understanding the various properties of different nanoparticles is key to applying them to clinical therapies; the many distinct types of nanoparticles offer unique capacities for medical imaging, diagnosis, and treatment of neurodegeneration disorders. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Feb 12. Epub 2019 Feb 12.

CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China. Electronic address:

Nanomaterials employed for enhanced drug delivery and therapeutic effects have been extensively investigated in the past decade. The outcome of current anticancer treatments based on conventional nanoparticles is suboptimal, due to the lack of biocompatibility, the deficient tumor targeting, the limited drug accumulation in the diseased region, etc. Alternatively, DNA-based nanocarriers have emerged as a novel and versatile platform to integrate the advantages of nanotechnologies and biological sciences, which shows great promise in addressing the key issues for biomedical studies. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Feb 12. Epub 2019 Feb 12.

Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA. Electronic address:

Several key attributes of zebrafish make them an ideal model system for the discovery and development of regeneration promoting therapeutics; most notably their robust capacity for self-repair which extends to the central nervous system. Further, by enabling large-scale drug discovery directly in living vertebrate disease models, zebrafish circumvent critical bottlenecks which have driven drug development costs up. This review summarizes currently available zebrafish phenotypic screening platforms, HTS-ready neurodegenerative disease modeling strategies, zebrafish small molecule screens which have succeeded in identifying regeneration promoting compounds and explores how intravital imaging in zebrafish can facilitate comprehensive analysis of nanocarrier biodistribution and pharmacokinetics. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Feb 12. Epub 2019 Feb 12.

Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; Chemistry Department, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. Electronic address:

Structural DNA nanotechnology takes DNA, a biopolymer, far beyond being the molecule that stores and transmits genetic information in biological systems. DNA has been employed as building blocks for the assembly of designed, nanoscaled, supramolecular DNA architectures for applications in biophysics, structure determination, synthetic biology, diagnostics, and drug delivery. Herein, we review a symmetric approach of tile-based DNA self-assembly. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Feb 10. Epub 2019 Feb 10.

Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-Oiwakecho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan; Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (WPI-iCeMS), Kyoto University, Yoshida-Ushinomaecho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan. Electronic address:

Recent innovations in cutting-edge sequencing platforms have allowed the rapid identification of genes associated with communicable, noncommunicable and rare diseases. Exploitation of this collected biological information has facilitated the development of nonviral gene therapy strategies and the design of several proteins capable of editing specific DNA sequences for disease control. Small molecule-based targeted therapeutic approaches have gained increasing attention because of their suggested clinical benefits, ease of control and lower costs. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Feb 2. Epub 2019 Feb 2.

Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. Electronic address:

Islet transplantation is a promising long-term, compliance-free, complication-preventing treatment for type 1 diabetes. However, islet transplantation is currently limited to a narrow set of patients due to the shortage of donor islets and side effects from immunosuppression. Encapsulating cells in an immunoisolating membrane can allow for their transplantation without the need for immunosuppression. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Jan 30. Epub 2019 Jan 30.

CÚRAM, Centre for Research in Medical Devices, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland. Electronic address:

Therapeutic conveyance into the brain is a cardinal requirement for treatment of diverse central nervous system (CNS) disorders and associated pathophysiology. Effectual shielding of the brain by the blood-brain barrier (BBB) sieves out major proportion of therapeutics with the exception of small lipophilic molecules. Various nano-delivery systems (NDS) provide an effective solution around this obstacle owing to their small size and targeting properties. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Jan 26. Epub 2019 Jan 26.

Bio-organic Chemistry Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu 180001, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), CSIR-IIIM, Jammu Campus, Jammu 180001, India. Electronic address:

Cathepsins are an important category of enzymes that have attracted great attention for the delivery of drugs to improve the therapeutic outcome of a broad range of nanoscale drug delivery systems. These proteases can be utilized for instance through actuation of polymer-drug conjugates (e.g. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Jan 22. Epub 2019 Jan 22.

Drug Product Development, Janssen R&D, Johnson & Johnson, Turnhoutseweg 30, 2340 Beerse, Belgium; Department of Science and Environment, Roskilde University, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark. Electronic address:

Lipid-based formulations, including self-emulsifying drug delivery systems (SEDDS), are an interesting formulation technology that enables the clinical use of compounds for which a low aqueous solubility may be a limitation. From an academic perspective, the technology is interesting on several levels: what drives solubility, what determines bioperformance, what is the potential for solidification etc. From an industrial perspective, >35 lipid-based formulations are available and there is an unknown number of projects in the pipeline. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Jan 21. Epub 2019 Jan 21.

Drug Delivery, Disposition and Dynamics, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University (Parkville Campus), Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia.; ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, Monash University (Parkville Campus), Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia.. Electronic address:

Self-dispersing lipid-based formulations, particularly self-microemulsifying drug delivery systems (SMEDDS) have gained an increased interest in recent times as a means to enhance the oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble lipophilic drugs. Upon dilution, SMEDDS self-emulsify in an aqueous fluid and usually form a kinetically stable oil-in-water emulsion or in some rare cases a true thermodynamically stable microemulsion. The digestion of the formulation leads to the production of amphiphilic digestion products that interact with endogenous amphiphilic components and form self-assembled colloidal phases in the aqueous environment of the intestine. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Jan 17. Epub 2019 Jan 17.

School of Pharmacy, University of Waterloo, 10A Victoria St S, Kitchener N2G 1C5, Canada. Electronic address:

The human body is a large reservoir for bacterial viruses known as bacteriophages (phages), which participate in dynamic interactions with their bacterial and human hosts that ultimately affect human health. The current growing interest in human resident phages is paralleled by new uses of phages, including the design of engineered phages for therapeutic applications. Despite the increasing number of clinical trials being conducted, the understanding of the interaction of phages and mammalian cells and tissues is still largely unknown. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Jan 14. Epub 2019 Jan 14.

The Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy, The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900-02, Israel. Electronic address:

The last decade will be remembered as the dawn of the immunotherapy era during which we have witnessed the approval by regulatory agencies of genetically engineered CAR T-cells and of checkpoint inhibitors for cancer treatment. Understandably, T-lymphocytes represent the essential player in these approaches. These cells can mediate impressive tumor regression in terminally-ill cancer patients. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Jan 11;138:276-292. Epub 2019 Jan 11.

Institute of Advanced Biomedical Engineering and Science, Tokyo Women's Medical University, 8-1 Kawada-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan.

Cell transplantation is a promising approach for promoting tissue regeneration in the treatment of damaged tissues or organs. Although cells have conventionally been delivered by direct injection to damaged tissues, cell injection has limited efficiency to deliver therapeutic cells to the target sites. Progress in tissue engineering has moved scaffold-based cell/tissue delivery into the mainstream of tissue regeneration. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Jan 11. Epub 2019 Jan 11.

School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address:

Over the years, a plethora of materials - natural and synthetic - have been engineered at a nanoscopic level and explored for drug delivery. Nanocarriers based on such materials could improve the payload's pharmacokinetics and achieve the desired pharmacological response at the target tissue. Despite the development of rationally designed drug nanocarriers, only a handful of such formulations have been successfully translated into the clinic. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Jan 11;138:302-325. Epub 2019 Jan 11.

Department of Nanomedicine and Theranostics, Institute for Experimental Molecular Imaging, RWTH Aachen University Clinic, Aachen, Germany; Department of Pharmaceutics, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Targeted Therapeutics, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands. Electronic address:

Many different iron oxide nanoparticles have been evaluated over the years, for a wide variety of biomedical applications. We here summarize the synthesis, surface functionalization and characterization of iron oxide nanoparticles, as well as their (pre-) clinical use in diagnostic, therapeutic and theranostic settings. Diagnostic applications include liver, lymph node, inflammation and vascular imaging, employing mostly magnetic resonance imaging but recently also magnetic particle imaging. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Jan 11. Epub 2019 Jan 11.

3B's Research Group, I3Bs - Research Institute on Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, AvePark, Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, Zona Industrial da Gandra, 4805-017, Barco, Guimarães, Portugal; ICVS/3B's - PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal; The Discoveries Centre for Regenerative and Precision Medicine, Headquarters at University of Minho, AvePark, 4805-017 Barco, Guimarães, Portugal. Electronic address:

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Jan 4. Epub 2019 Jan 4.

Division of Pharmaceutical Technology, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. Electronic address:

The interactions of nanomedicines with biological environments is heavily influenced by their physicochemical properties. Formulation design and optimization are therefore key steps towards successful nanomedicine development. Unfortunately, detailed assessment of nanomedicine formulations, at a macromolecular level, in rodents is severely limited by the restricted imaging possibilities within these animals. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2018 Dec 31. Epub 2018 Dec 31.

Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. Electronic address:

Cell therapy offers much promise for the treatment of ischemic diseases by augmenting tissue vasculogenesis. Matrix-assisted cell transplantation (MACT) has been proposed as a solution to enhance cell survival and integration with host tissue following transplantation. By designing semi synthetic matrices (sECM) with the correct physical and biochemical signals, encapsulated cells are directed towards a more angiogenic phenotype. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2018 Dec 31. Epub 2018 Dec 31.

Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA. Electronic address:

Cutaneous injuries, especially chronic wounds, burns, and skin wound infection, require painstakingly long-term treatment with an immense financial burden to healthcare systems worldwide. However, clinical management of chronic wounds remains unsatisfactory in many cases. Various strategies including growth factor and gene delivery as well as cell therapy have been used to enhance the healing of non-healing wounds. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2018 Dec 31. Epub 2018 Dec 31.

AO Research Institute Davos, 7270 Davos Platz, Switzerland. Electronic address:

Once damaged, articular cartilage has a limited potential to repair. Clinically, a repair tissue is formed, yet, it is often mechanically inferior fibrocartilage. The use of monolayer expanded versus naïve cells may explain one of the biggest discrepancies in mesenchymal stromal/stem cell (MSC) based cartilage regeneration. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2018 Dec 27. Epub 2018 Dec 27.

Institute of Applied Bioresource Research, College of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, Yuhangtang Road 866, Hangzhou 310058, China. Electronic address:

Bacteriophages, or more colloquially as phages, are viruses that possess the ability to infect and replicate with bacterial cells. They are assembled from two major types of biomolecules, the nucleic acids and the proteins, with the latter forming a capsid and the former being encapsulated. In the eukaryotic hosts, phages are inert particulate antigens and cannot trigger pathogenesis. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2018 Dec 22. Epub 2018 Dec 22.

J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA. Electronic address:

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating and complicated condition with no cure available. The initial mechanical trauma is followed by a secondary injury characterized by inflammatory cell infiltration and inhibitory glial scar formation. Due to the limitations posed by the blood-spinal cord barrier, systemic delivery of therapeutics is challenging. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2018 Dec 21. Epub 2018 Dec 21.

Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E5, Canada; Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, 164 College Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3G9, Canada; Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto, 160 College Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E1, Canada; Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H6, Canada. Electronic address:

Since the early 1990s, we have known that the adult brain is not static and has the capacity to repair itself. The delivery of various therapeutic factors and cells have resulted in some exciting pre-clinical and clinical outcomes in stroke models by targeting post-injury plasticity to enhance recovery. Developing a deeper understanding of the pathways that modulate plasticity will enable us to optimize delivery strategies for therapeutics and achieve more robust effects. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Jan 13;138:247-258. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Laboratoire Matière et Systèmes Complexes, UMR 7057, CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, 10 rue Alice Domon et Léonie Duquet, Paris 75205, France. Electronic address:

Emerging advances in extracellular vesicle (EV) research brings along new promises for tailoring clinical treatments in order to meet specific disease features of each patient in a personalized medicine concept. EVs may act as regenerative effectors conveying endogenous therapeutic factors from parent cells or constitute a bio-camouflaged delivery system for exogenous therapeutic agents. Physical stimulation may be an important tool in the field of EVs for personalized therapy by powering EV production, loading and therapeutic properties. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Jan 13;138:148-166. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux INP, UMR CNRS 5629, 16 Avenue Pey-Berland, Pessac 33607, France. Electronic address:

The use of nanotechnology to improve treatment efficacy and reduce side effects is central to nanomedicine. In this context, stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems (DDS) such as chemical/physical gels or nanoparticles such as polymersomes, micelles or nanogels are particularly promising and are the focus of this review. Several stimuli have been considered but light as an exogenous trigger presents many advantages that are pertinent for clinical applications such as high spatial and temporal control and low cost. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Jan 13;138:68-104. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Dept. Energía, Medio Ambiente y Salud, Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, CSIC, Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address:

Ferrimagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (magnetite or maghemite) have been the subject of an intense research, not only for fundamental research but also for their potentiality in a widespread number of practical applications. Most of these studies were focused on nanoparticles with spherical morphology but recently there is an emerging interest on anisometric nanoparticles. This review is focused on the synthesis routes for the production of uniform anisometric magnetite/maghemite nanoparticles with different morphologies like cubes, rods, disks, flowers and many others, such as hollow spheres, worms, stars or tetrapods. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2019 Jan 13;138:293-301. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Division of MR Research, Cellular Imaging Section and Vascular Biology Program, Institute for Cell Engineering, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Oncology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 217 Traylor Bldg, 720 Rutland Ave, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Electronic address:

Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) has recently emerged as a non-invasive, whole body imaging technique that detects superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles similar as those used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Based on tracer "hot spot" detection instead of providing contrast on MRI scans, MPI has already proven to be truly quantitative. Without the presence of endogenous background signal, MPI can also be used in certain tissues where the endogenous MRI signal is too low to provide contrast. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2018 Dec 13. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

MedImmune, Gaithersburg, MD 20878, United States. Electronic address:

CD40 is a TNF receptor superfamily member expressed on both immune and non-immune cells. Interactions between B cell-expressed CD40 and its binding partner, CD40L, predominantly expressed on activated CD4+ T cells, play a critical role in promoting germinal center formation and the production of class-switched antibodies. Non-hematopoietic cells expressing CD40 can also engage CD40L and trigger a pro-inflammatory response. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2018 Dec 5. Epub 2018 Dec 5.

Shanghai Diabetes Institute, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Diabetes Mellitus, Shanghai Key Clinical Center for Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai 200233, People's Republic of China. Electronic address:

Diabetes has become one of the largest global health and economic burdens, with its increased prevalence and high complication ratio. Stable and satisfactory blood glucose control are vital to reduce diabetes-related complications. Therefore, continuous attempts have been made in antidiabetic drugs, treatment routes, and traditional Chinese medicine to achieve better disease control. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2018 Dec 6. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology of China, Beijing, 100190, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China. Electronic address:

The vigorous development of nanotechnology has been accompanied by an equally strong interest and research efforts in nano-based drug delivery systems (NDDSs). However, only a few NDDSs have been translated into clinic thus far. One of the important hurdles is the lack of tools to comprehensively and directly trace the biological fate of NDDSs. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2018 Dec 5. Epub 2018 Dec 5.

Medical Isotopes Research Center and Department of Radiation Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100191, China. Electronic address:

Diabetes is a chronic non-communicable disease affecting over 400 million people worldwide. Diabetic patients are at a high risk of various complications, such as cardiovascular, renal, and other diseases. The pathogenesis of diabetes (both type 1 and type 2 diabetes) is associated with a functional impairment of pancreatic β-cells. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2018 Dec 6. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, and Frontier Research Center on Fundamental and Applied Sciences of Matters, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address:

The encapsulation of insulin in micro- or nanodelivery systems may eliminate the need for frequent subcutaneous injections, improving the quality of life of diabetic patients. Formulations for oral, intranasal, pulmonary, subcutaneous, and transdermal administration have been developed. The use of stimuli-responsive polymeric carriers that can release the encapsulated drug in response to changes of the environmental stimuli or external activation enables the design of less invasive or non-invasive systems for smart insulin delivery from depots in the body. Read More

Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2018 Dec 6. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Laboratory of Precision NanoMedicine, School of Molecular Cell Biology and Biotechnology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering, Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Cancer Biology Research Center, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. Electronic address:

Lymphocytes are the gatekeepers of the body's immune system and are involved in pathogenesis if their surveillance is stalled by inhibitory molecules or when they act as mediators for viral entry. Engineering lymphocytes in order to restore their functions is an unmet need in immunological disorders, cancer and in lymphotropic viral infections. Recently, the FDA approved several therapeutic antibodies for blocking inhibitory signals on T cells. Read More