ABSTRACT
Drug delivery device (ODD) of controlled and targeted function can ideally
deliver high dose of the therapeutic agent specifically to the diseased cells
with the healthy cells less interfered, thus resulting desired pharmacokinetics
and biodistribution for higher therapeutic effect and fewer side effect. Such
kind of idea for a well-designed administration of therapeutics could be
traced back to Paul Ehrlich, the 1906 Nobel Prize Medicine Laureate, and his
concept of magic bullets. Since then it has been arousing continuous interest
in developing various advanced targeting strategies, among which ligand-
conjugated nanoparticles (including soft nanoparticles such as micelles and
liposomes and solid nanoparticles such as those of biodegradable polymers)
may be the most prospective among various targeted ODD [1-6]. Polymeric
nanoparticles (NPs) are able to dissolve hydrophobic drugs in polymeric matrix,
solving the drug solubility problem aswell as possess the advantages such as high
stability, efficient drug load, sustained drug release, enhanced circulation time in
bloodstream, and active targeting space for cancer cells [7, 8]. A good example
is the polymeric nanoparticle formulation of docetaxel, a potent anticancer drug
approved by FDA for the treatment on a wide spectrum of cancers [9], which has
aroused high attraction recently [10-13]. Among those, targeted formulations
are believed to be capable of distinguishing the cancer cells from normal cells
as well as accumulating in the cancer cells.
