title: Physical energy for drug delivery; poration, concentration and activation.
abstract: Techniques for controlling the rate and duration of drug delivery, while targeting specific locations of the body for treatment, to deliver the cargo (drugs or DNA) to particular parts of the body by what are becoming called "smart drug carriers" have gained increased attention during recent years. Using such smart carriers, researchers have also been investigating a number of physical energy forces including: magnetic fields, ultrasound, electric fields, temperature gradients, photoactivation or photorelease mechanisms, and mechanical forces to enhance drug delivery within the targeted cells or tissues and also to activate the drugs using a similar or a different type of external trigger. This review aims to cover a number of such physical energy modalities. Various advanced techniques such as magnetoporation, electroporation, iontophoresis, sonoporation/mechnoporation, phonophoresis, optoporation and thermoporation will be covered in the review. Special emphasis will be placed on photodynamic therapy owing to the experience of the authors' laboratory in this area, but other types of drug cargo and DNA vectors will also be covered. Photothermal therapy and theranostics will also be discussed.
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Shanmugamurthy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lakshmanan
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Gaurav K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Pinar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Avci
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Rakkiyappan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chandran
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Magesh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sadasivam
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Programa de Pós-Graduação Interunidades Bioengenharia - EESC/FMRP/IQSC and Laboratório de Biofotônica/Instituto de Física de São Carlos - Universidade de São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Elisa Serafim
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Jorge
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA 02119, USA. Electronic address: hamblin@helix.mgh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Hamblin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D015195:Drug Design; D018274:Electroporation / Q000379:methods; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006801:Humans; D007478:Iontophoresis; D010778:Photochemotherapy / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D004337:Drug Carriers; D004247:DNA
keywords: Electroporation; Gene transfection; Magnetoporation; Nanoparticles; Optoporation; Photothermal therapy; Smart drug carriers; Sonoporation; Thermoporation