title: Drug delivery vehicles on a nano-engineering perspective.
abstract: Nanoengineered drug delivery systems (nDDS) have been successfully used as clinical tools for not only modulation of pharmacological drug release profile but also specific targeting of diseased tissues. Until now, encapsulation of anti-cancer molecules such as paclitaxel, vincristin and doxorubicin has been the main target of nDDS, whereby liposomes and polymer-drug conjugates remained as the most popular group of nDDS used for this purpose. The success reached by these nanocarriers can be imitated by careful selection and optimization of the different factors that affect drug release profile (i.e. type of biomaterial, size, system architecture, and biodegradability mechanisms) along with the selection of an appropriate manufacture technique that does not compromise the desired release profile, while it also offers possibilities to scale up for future industrialization. This review focuses from an engineering perspective on the different parameters that should be considered before and during the design of new nDDS, and the different manufacturing techniques available, in such a way to ensure success in clinical application.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Medios e Interfases, Departamento de Bioingeniería, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Av. Kirchner 1800, Tucumán, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Av. Rivadavia 1917, Buenos Aires, Argentina.; START - Thrust 3, Create Research Wing, #03-08, 1 Create Way, National University of Singapore, Singapore 138602.
authors.forename: Betiana
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Felice
authors.affiliation: START - Thrust 3, Create Research Wing, #03-08, 1 Create Way, National University of Singapore, Singapore 138602. Electronic address: nnimpp@nus.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Molamma P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Prabhakaran
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Medios e Interfases, Departamento de Bioingeniería, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Av. Kirchner 1800, Tucumán, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Av. Rivadavia 1917, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Andrea P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: START - Thrust 3, Create Research Wing, #03-08, 1 Create Way, National University of Singapore, Singapore 138602; Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Seeram
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramakrishna
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans; D008081:Liposomes / Q000737:chemistry; D044085:Microfluidics; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D036103:Nanotechnology; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D008081:Liposomes; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D011108:Polymers; D012709:Serum Albumin
keywords: Liposomes; biodegradable polymers; cancer; controlled release; nanotechnology; targeted drug delivery