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Active Targeting of Nanocarriers

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The active targeting of nanocarriers consists in conjugating affinity ligands to their surface to achieve an increased retention at the target site and/or to enhance their uptake by the target cells. This concept has been receiving increased attention in the nanotechnology field, showing promising potential to provide efficient targeting outcomes, as ligands are strategically selected to recognize and bind to overexpressed or highly specific molecules on tissues and cells. Active targeting was developed as a complementary strategy to passive targeting, and it is particularly useful when the conditions for passive targeting are not favorable (e.g., when the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect is low or absent) (see “Passive Targeting and the Enhanced Permeability and Retention (EPR) Effect”). In the present chapter, the most common strategies for active targeting using nanocarriers are discussed, with focus both on the different types of ligands utilized and on...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Giovana Onzi, Silvia S. Guterres, Adriana R. Pohlmann & Luiza Abrahão Frank

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  1. Giovana Onzi
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  2. Silvia S. Guterres
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  3. Adriana R. Pohlmann
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  4. Luiza Abrahão Frank
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Correspondence to Luiza Abrahão Frank .

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  1. University of La Plata (UNLP), Argentinian National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), La Plata, Argentina

    Alan Talevi

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  1. Medicinal Chemistry, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences, National University of la Plata (UNLP) - Argentinean National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Alan Talevi

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Onzi, G., Guterres, S.S., Pohlmann, A.R., Frank, L.A. (2022). Active Targeting of Nanocarriers. In: Talevi, A. (eds) The ADME Encyclopedia. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84860-6_109

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