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Multifunctional Liposomes to Attain Targeting, Stimuli Sensitive Drug Release and Imaging Cancer

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Advanced Drug Delivery

Abstract

Liposomes have been shown to be superior delivery systems for nutrients, drugs, vaccines, and bioactive substances. The concentric phospholipid bilayers that surround an aqueous core make up the spherical vesicles known as liposomes. Most of the molecules may be folded into the structure of these vesicular drug delivery systems during their fabrication, which is facilitated by techniques like the solvent injection process, thin film hydration, and reverse phase evaporation. Liposomal nanoformulations are a highly effective method for administering drugs using both active and passive targeting strategies. In order to actively target a specific cancer, liposomes can have their surface functionalized with specific targeting ligands such as protein molecules, sugars, and antibodies. Numerous recent kinds of literature were reported for the targeted delivery of small molecule drugs, genes and biological macromolecules using liposomal formulations. An emerging field of study investigates the use of stimuli-sensitive liposomes for the delivery of their payload. Recent developments have shown that stimuli-sensitive liposomes can be used to trigger drug release in response to both internal stimuli like acidic pH, abnormal enzyme concentrations, and temperature, and external stimuli like light waves, and magnetic fields. Tumor imaging can also be done by incorporation of quantum dots or fluorescent dyes such as coumarin 6, indocyanine green, methylene blue, naphthalocyanine, etc. Multifunctional liposomes which combine, drug delivery, targeting, stimuli sensitiveness and imaging modalities are the cutting-edge innovations being carried out in this field. Scientists are interested in using liposomes for clinical applications in the treatment of cancer because of the special characteristics of liposomes such as being non-toxic, biodegradable, excellent biocompatibility, and non-immunogenicity. Liposomes that are undergoing clinical trials, and their novel innovations, such as cancer-targeting, imaging, and stimuli-sensitive tools, will soon be introduced to the market.

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Acknowledgements

The principal investigator laboratory is supported by Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) via Start-up Research Grant (SRG) [grant no. SRG/2021/002312] and the Empowerment and Equity Opportunities for Excellence in Science (EMEQ) grant [grant no. EEQ/2022/000218] during the scripting of the book chapter. The book chapter is related to the above research grants. The authors would like to acknowledge biorender (online imaging) service providers for the assistance in drawing images.

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Correspondence to Vijayakumar Mahalingam Rajamanickam .

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The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest in publishing the book chapter.

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© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Kumar, V., Kewlani, P., Singh, A., Sanjay, Gautam, A.K., Mahalingam Rajamanickam, V. (2023). Multifunctional Liposomes to Attain Targeting, Stimuli Sensitive Drug Release and Imaging Cancer. In: Santra, T.S., Shinde, A.U.S. (eds) Advanced Drug Delivery. Studies in Mechanobiology, Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials, vol 26. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-6564-9_3

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