Polymeric Nanocarriers in Drug Delivery and Targeting

Call for Papers

Today, nanotechnology in drug delivery and targeting is among one of the supreme thrust areas for research. A number of drug-delivery nanocarriers have been reported so far with immense potential of drug delivery and targeting. Polymers play a key role in the fabrication and development of these nanocarriers and, with proper consideration of surface and bulk properties, can aid in the designing for various drug-delivery applications. Polymers provide versatility in selection, modification, and fabrication of nanocarriers based on desired drug-delivery approach. Biodegradable polymers find extensive use in drug delivery as they can be degraded to nontoxic monomers inside the body. Star polymers provide the opportunity to conjugate multiple moieties due to tailor-made surfaces (e.g., dendrimers). Considering all these approaches and strategies, we expect tremendous abilities from polymeric nanocarriers in drug delivery and targeting in the future.

We invite investigators to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that will reflect the role and applicability of polymeric nanocarriers especially in drug delivery and targeting for the treatment of various diseases. We are particularly interested in the articles which reveal the progress and upcoming challenges in this area and at the same time highlight certain key issues (e.g., safety, therapeutics toxicity, etc.). Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Physicochemical factors affecting development of polymeric carriers
• Recent advances in the targeting capabilities of the polymeric nanocarriers to the various organs like brain, liver, eyes, and other organs of body
• Recent and novel technology/methods for the purification and effective separation of polymeric nanocarriers from impurities
• Advances in the synthesis of nanocarriers
• Recent advances in characterization of the nanocarriers. Advanced methods to accurately establish the protocols for the drug encapsulation as well as conjugation of bioactives
• Advances in the applicability of nanocarriers in gene, nucleic acid, peptide, and other small molecules including therapeutic applications
• Advances in preclinical studies based on polymeric nanocarriers
• Solubilization behavior of polymeric carriers
• Scale-up and commercialization strategies of the polymeric nanocarriers
• Current challenges related to the drug delivery using polymers in terms of stability, toxicity, and therapeutic safety

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jph/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/jph/pddt/ according to the following timetable:

Lead Guest Editor

• Umesh Gupta, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Avera Health and Science Center, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA

Guest Editors

• Ranjith Averineni, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Avera Health and Science Center, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA
• Awesh Yadav, Department of Pharmaceutics, Guru Ramdas Khalsa Institute of Science and Technology (Pharmacy), Jabalpur, India
• Venkata Vamsi Krishna Venuganti, Department of Pharmacy, BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad, India
• Srinivas Mutalik, School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia