生物医学与药物科学杂志

Nanotechnology has emerged as a promising avenue for revolutionizing drug delivery, particularly in enhancing oral bioavailability and achieving controlled release of therapeutic agents. Traditional drug formulations face numerous challenges, including poor solubility, limited stability and inefficient absorption in the gastrointestinal tract, which can significantly affect drug efficacy and patient compliance. Nanotechnology offers innovative solutions by harnessing the unique properties of nanoscale materials to overcome these limitations and improve the pharmacokinetic profiles of orally administered drugs. At the forefront of nanotechnology-based drug formulations are nanoparticles, which are typically in the range of 1-1000 nanometers in size. These nanoparticles can be fabricated from a variety of materials, including polymers, lipids and inorganic compounds, each offering distinct advantages in terms of drug loading capacity, biocompatibility and tunable release kinetics.

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) remains one of the most challenging and devastating neurodegenerative diseases affecting millions of individuals worldwide. Characterized by progressive cognitive decline, memory loss and eventual impairment in daily activities, AD poses a significant burden on patients, caregivers and healthcare systems. While much research has been devoted to understanding the underlying mechanisms of AD, effective therapeutic interventions that halt or reverse its progression remain elusive. Among the pathological hallmarks of AD are the accumulation of beta-amyloid plaques and the formation of Neurofibrillary Tangles (NFTs) primarily composed of hyperphosphorylated tau protein. While amyloidbeta targeting strategies have been a major focus of drug development, recent attention has shifted towards emerging therapeutic approaches targeting tau pathology.

Targeted drug delivery systems have emerged as a pivotal strategy in the realm of cancer therapy, offering a potential solution to the challenges posed by traditional treatment modalities. Cancer, a multifaceted disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth and proliferation, remains a formidable global health concern. Despite significant advancements in oncology research and therapeutic interventions, the efficacy of conventional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy is often hindered by their lack of specificity, resulting in systemic toxicity and adverse effects on healthy tissues. In response to these limitations, targeted drug delivery systems have garnered increasing attention for their ability to selectively deliver therapeutic agents to cancerous cells while minimizing harm to normal tissues. These systems employ a range of sophisticated strategies, leveraging the unique characteristics of tumors and their microenvironment to achieve precise and efficient drug delivery. Among these strategies, passive and active targeting approaches represent two primary avenues for enhancing drug specificity and efficacy.

The development of novel biomaterials for tissue engineering applications in regenerative medicine has emerged as a promising field at the intersection of materials science, biology and medicine. Tissue engineering aims to regenerate, repair, or replace damaged tissues and organs by harnessing the body's natural healing mechanisms combined with engineered biomaterials. This multidisciplinary approach holds significant potential for addressing a wide range of medical conditions, from chronic wounds to organ failure, by providing innovative solutions that mimic the structure and function of native tissues. At the core of tissue engineering is the design and fabrication of biomaterials that can serve as scaffolds to support cell growth, proliferation and differentiation. These scaffolds must possess specific properties to mimic the Extracellular Matrix (ECM) of the target tissue, including appropriate mechanical strength, porosity, surface chemistry and biodegradability. Advances in materials science have enabled the development of biomaterials with tailored properties, allowing researchers to create highly sophisticated scaffolds capable of guiding tissue regeneration with precision.