Endosome/lysosome is a natural barrier for intracellular delivery of nanodrugs. How to overcome it has become the key to improving drug efficacy in clinical application. Endocytosis and then quickly escape? Transmembrane without entry? Bypass to choose another way? Which is the better choice for nanocarriers in drug delivery?

A China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences team summarises advanced strategies for overcoming endosomal/lysosomal barriers to efficient nanodrug delivery based on the perspective of cellular uptake and intracellular transport mechanisms. These strategies include promoting endosomal/lysosomal escape, using non-endocytic methods of delivery to directly cross the cell membrane to evade endosomes/lysosomes and making a detour pathway to evade endosomes/lysosomes.

The study was published  (May 24) in Research, the first Science Partner Journal recently launched by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in collaboration with the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST). Ji Gang Wang is a professor of materials science and engineering in Artemisinin Research Center, and Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.

Ji Gang Wang

Chong Qiu

“Traditional Chinese culture propagates a theory of yin and yang, which signifies that there is no absolute good or bad and everything is balanced,” said Ji Gang Wang, who led the research. “The most important aspect of drug delivery is the reasonable design of nanocarriers according to the requirements so that lysosomes can be used as a helper instead of a barrier.” 

“Various challenges should be considered while designing nanocarriers in the future, including safety and biocompatibility, scalability and manufacturing, regulatory considerations, cost-effective manufacturing processes and interdisciplinary collaboration,” Chong Qiu (the first author, Associate Professor in Wang’s research group) said. “An in-depth understanding of nanocarrier trafficking may facilitate the rational design of smarter nanodrug delivery systems.” 

“Advanced strategies for overcoming endosomal/lysosomal barrier in nanodrug delivery” was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation (No.82204322 and 82104480). Associate Professor Chong Qiu and Fei Xia, a former member of Wang’s research group, served as the paper's co-first authors.

Tag: Health Science

Sources: https://doi.org/10.34133/research.0148