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Platelet membrane-based and tumor-associated platelettargeted drug delivery systems for cancer therapy

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Abstract

Platelets have long been known to play critical roles in hemostasis by clumping and clotting blood vessel injuries. Recent experimental evidence strongly indicates that platelets can also interact with tumor cells by direct binding or secreting cytokines. For example, platelets have been shown to protect circulating cancer cells in blood circulation and to promote tumor metastasis. In-depth understanding of the role of platelets in cancer progression and metastasis provides promising approaches for platelet biomimetic drug delivery systems and functional platelet-targeting strategies for effective cancer treatment. This review highlights recent progresses in platelet membrane-based drug delivery and unique strategies that target tumor-associated platelets for cancer therapy. The paper also discusses future development opportunities and challenges encountered for clinical translation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Distinguished Young Scientists Program (No. 31325010), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31730032), the Innovation Research Group of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11621505), and the Key Research Project of Frontier Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No.QYZDJ-SSW-SLH022).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Pharmaceutical Science, Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, China

    Yinlong Zhang, Guangna Liu & Jingyan Wei

  2. CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China

    Yinlong Zhang, Guangna Liu & Guangjun Nie

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Guangjun Nie

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  1. Yinlong Zhang
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  2. Guangna Liu
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Correspondence to Jingyan Wei or Guangjun Nie.

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Zhang, Y., Liu, G., Wei, J. et al. Platelet membrane-based and tumor-associated platelettargeted drug delivery systems for cancer therapy. Front. Med. 12, 667–677 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11684-017-0583-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11684-017-0583-y

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