Advances and challenges in functionalised surface modification of liposomes for cytoplasmic drug delivery
Zimei Wu
The University of Auckland, New Zealand
: J Pharm Drug Deliv Res
Abstract
Chemotherapy continues to play an important role in cancer treatment, but still faces major challenges, mainly poor tumour-selectivity and drug resistance. ‘Targeted drug delivery’ with liposomes has attracted great attention due to their potential for improving chemotherapeutic index and 15 liposomal products are already approved for clinical use. Surface modification of liposomes with polyethylene glycol (PEG) is still the gold standard. However, growing evidence shows that although the side effects in patients have been minimized by the use of PEGylated liposomes, the improvement in efficacy is usually marginal. This could partially be attributed to the poor cellular uptake and slow intracellular drug release as a result of PEGylation, known as PEG dilemma. This talk will outline the recent advances and principles for ‘tumour-targeted cytoplasmic drug delivery’ using new liposomes modified with various functionalized polymers in alternative to PEG. The strategy of tumour microenvironment-sensitive PEG-detachment will also be discussed. A greater understanding of these mechanisms will help to design more efficient drug delivery systems to address the challenges encountered in the current liposomal chemotherapy.
Biography
