Targeted Medicine Delivery

Isaac Failner
ENGR-1050-401
 Nanotechnology: Revolutionizing Medicine Delivery within the Body

Targeted drug delivery is the process in which medicine is delivered in the body by using

nanoscale material. This is being researched as a method of drug delivery for cancer because

chemotherapy lacks the ability to target only cancerous cells. Because of the nature of current

chemotherapy, the medicine damages or kills healthy cells in addition to the cancerous cells. But

with targeted drug delivery scientists will be able to deliver the medicine to just the area that

needs it and potentially if successful leave the healthy cells unharmed and intact. Targeted drug

delivery has been being researched for several years with various methods being tested and has

yet to be successfully achieved with the desired results. The research has continued to develop,

and nanotechnology has played a significant role in advancing the progress in targeted drug

delivery. Three fundamental concepts associated with the concept of targeted drug delivery are

nanoparticles, hydrophobic interactions, and self-assembly. These three concepts as of now are

key to the development and success of targeted drug delivery.

Nanoparticles are an essential part of the concept of targeted drug delivery and have

resulted furthering the progress of the concept. Nanoparticles are particles on the nanoscale

which means they are anywhere from 1 to 100 nanometers in size. Nanoparticles are used in

many things but for the purposes of this paper Im focusing on the medical aspect of that

research and usage. Nanoparticles exhibit different characteristics than that of bulk materials

which is a benefit in targeted drug delivery. There are several nanoscale materials being

researched as potential carriers of the medicine and all have their benefits and drawbacks. There

is also a debate over whether to use organic or inorganic nanoparticles as part of the drug

delivery. Recently, a great interest has been paid to the development of hybrid protein-inorganic

nanoparticles (NPs) for drug delivery and cancer diagnostics to combine the merits of both
inorganic and protein nanocarriers. This review primarily discusses the most outstanding

advances in the applications of the hybrids of naturally-occurring proteins with iron oxide,

gadolinium, gold, silica, calcium phosphate NPs, carbon nanotubes, and quantum dots in drug

delivery and cancer imaging. Various strategies that have been utilized for the preparation of

protein-functionalized inorganic NPs and the mechanisms involved in the drug loading process

are discussed. How can the protein functionalization overcome the limitations of colloidal

stability, poor dispensability and toxicity associated with inorganic NPs is also investigated?

Moreover, issues relating to the influence of protein hybridization on the cellular uptake, tumor

targeting efficiency, systemic circulation, mucosal penetration and skin permeation of inorganic

NPs are highlighted. A special emphasis is devoted to the novel approaches utilizing the protein-

inorganic nanohybrids in combined cancer therapy, tumor imaging, and theranostic applications

as well as stimuli-responsive drug release from the nanohybrids. (Ahmed). Nanoparticles are

going to be key to the success of targeted delivery but with instability still yet to be solved

targeted medicine delivery is still largely a concept and not being put into practice. Lasers have

recently had success in stabilizing colloids, so this could potentially resolve the stability issue

with the colloids in nanoparticles. Assembling colloidal particles with sizes at or below the

wavelength of light into unique structures such as photonic crystals and metamaterials can be

achieved with electrostatic, hydrophobic, or other attraction/repulsion mechanisms or by adding

additional materials. However, it only produces the desired assembly shape if the colloidal

particles possess the optimum optical, magnetic, or electrical properties that respond to the

internal or external applied forces. To expand the boundaries of possibility for colloidal matter

assembly, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, led by Yuebing Zheng, have

developed an optothermophoretic assembly (OTA) method that instead uses an ionic surfactant
(cetyltrimethylammonium chloride, or CTAC) to manipulate and assemble most any colloidal

matter using a light-controlled temperature field. (Laser)

Hydrophobic interactions are an essential part of targeted medicine delivery.

Hydrophobic means water fearing or water repellent. Because the human body is largely made of

water being able to take advantage of hydrophobic interactions is essential. The bonds formed in

the nanoparticles arent broken by water and the medicine is able to be delivered to where its

supposed to go without being attracted to the water that makes up so much of the human body.

Hydrophobic interactions are key to maintain the integrity of the shape of the structure. Bottom-

up self-assembly of nanoscale objects is a central premise of nanotechnology. Besides

tremendous progress in last decades, the liquid-phase self-assembly of nanoparticles remains

theoretically and experimentally challenging especially when dealing with non-specific

interactions. We exploit hydrophobic interactions to show that polystyrene (PS)-stabilized

nanoparticles dispersed in tetrahydrofuran (THF) aggregate upon addition of water to form a

variety of complex architectures (Figure 1).[16] The final length-scale, interparticle distances,

and shape of the aggregates are driven by nature of the surface chemistry, the geometry of

particles building blocks, or rate of water addition. Since the integrity of the assemblies is

maintained by non-covalent interactions, the presence of external stimuli induces disintegration,

internal rearrangement or even division of the clusters that makes them an attractive material for

(bio)sensing. (Marek)

Self-assembly is an essential part of targeted delivery because with self-assembly the

medicine can better target a tumor or tumors and then assemble to the size needed. There are

issues currently with controlling the size of the nanoparticles but once we can control the

nanoparticles size in self-assembly we will be closer to successful targeted drug delivery. Being
able to self-assemble in this instance means that the medicine can be sent through the body and

assemble itself in the tumor while leaving the healthy parts of the body alone. The ability to self-

assemble is a key function that will be necessary for the success of targeted delivery. Without the

ability to self-assemble at the site of the tumor or tumors there wouldnt be the ability to have

targeted delivery because the nanoparticles wouldnt be able to specifically target the tumor and

wait to release the medicine till reaching the site. With self-assembly the medicine is delivered at

the site and encapsulated at the tumor but without this ability the concept of targeted delivery

fails unless an alternate method is posed.

Targeted delivery benefits society because if successfully developed into a working

treatment cancer treatment would be changed drastically. Chemotherapy could potentially be a

thing of the past and in doing so all the risks and negative consequences of chemotherapy could

be done away with. The patients would be able to know that the medicine would be targeting the

tumor and not attacking everything in their body almost. This also is beneficial to science

because it is furthering research in self-assembly which is a concept used in many areas outside

of biomedicine. Studying the concepts that are used to create targeted delivery could lead to

breakthroughs for many other areas in nanotechnology. Advances in medicine can be used for

many things and although targeted delivery is being developed with cancer in mind it could

potentially be used for other things. There are so many possibilities with targeted delivery of

medicine, it isnt just needed in attacking tumors, but it could open doors to revolutionizing so

many other treatments. All throughout science in the past and present breakthroughs have been

stumbled upon without them being the intended use or even topic of research. As we understand

better how to use nanoparticles within the human body and continue broadening our

understanding of how they work the possibilities are endless.

 The study and development of targeted medicine delivery is still being developed. It has

been being worked on for several years. It has great potential to be of a great benefit to our

society and the entire world. We are getting closer and closer every day to making this concept

into a working practice. The technology behind it and the methods used to make it work are

advancing and were so much further along than we were 20 years ago and even a year ago we

are so much closer to success. Some fundamental concepts associated with the concept of

targeted medicine delivery are first nanoparticles, then the ability of those nanoparticles to self-

assemble and finally the hydrophobic interactions that occur in the nanoparticles that are used.
 Works Cited

Ahmed O. Elzoghby, Ayman L. Hemasa, May S. Freag. Journal of Release. December

2016 Edition. Volume 243. sciencedirect.com . Published October 2016. Accessed 11/14/17.

Laser Focus World. Opto-thermophoretic method easily assembles colloidal matter.

Obtained through SLCC research database no Author name given. 10/1/2017. Accessed

11/16/17.

Marek Grzelzak. Self Assembly of Nanoparticles Through Hydrophobic Interactions.

journals.iucr.org . Published September 2016. Accessed 11/19/17