title: Drug delivery with living cells.
abstract: The field of drug delivery has grown tremendously in the past few decades by developing a wide range of advanced drug delivery systems. An interesting category is cell-based drug delivery, which includes encapsulation of drugs inside cells or attached to the surface and subsequent transportation through the body. Another approach involves genetic engineering of cells to secrete therapeutic molecules in a controlled way. The next-generation systems integrate expertise from synthetic biology to generate therapeutic gene networks for highly advanced sensory and output devices. These developments are very exciting for the drug delivery field and could radically change the way we administer biological medicines to chronically ill patients. This review is covering the use of living cells, either as transport system or production-unit, to deliver therapeutic molecules and bioactive proteins inside the body. It describes a wide range of approaches in cell-based drug delivery and highlights exceptional examples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS), Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80082, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lies A L
authors.initials: LAL
authors.lastname: Fliervoet
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS), Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80082, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: E.Mastrobattista@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mastrobattista
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002470:Cell Survival; D002477:Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D058615:Synthetic Biology / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations
keywords: Biopharmaceutics; Cell engineering; Cell therapy; Nanomedicine; Synthetic biology