University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSC-H), Department of NanoMedicine and Biomedical Engineering, 1825 Pressler, Suite 537, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Trends Biotechnol. 2010 Apr;28(4):181-8. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2009.12.007. Epub 2010 Jan 14.
The physics of mass transport within body compartments and across biological barriers differentiates cancers from healthy tissues. Variants of nanoparticles can be manufactured in combinatorially large sets, varying by only one transport-affecting design parameter at a time. Nanoparticles can also be used as building blocks for systems that perform sequences of coordinated actions, in accordance with a prescribed logic. We refer to these as Logic-Embedded Vectors (LEVs). Nanoparticles and LEVs are ideal probes for the determination of mass transport laws in tumors, acting as imaging contrast enhancers, and can be employed for lesion-selective delivery of therapy. Their size, shape, density and surface chemistry dominate convective transport in the bloodstream, margination, cell adhesion, selective cellular uptake, as well as sub-cellular trafficking and localization. As argued here, the understanding of transport differentials in cancer, termed 'transport oncophysics', reveals a promising new frontier in oncology: the development of lesion-specific delivery particulates that exploit mass transport differentials to deploy treatment of greater efficacy and reduced side effects.
在体腔和生物屏障内的质量传输物理学将癌症与健康组织区分开来。可以组合制造大量变体纳米颗粒,每次只改变一个影响传输的设计参数。纳米颗粒也可以用作执行协调动作序列的系统的构建块,根据预定的逻辑进行操作。我们将这些称为“Logic-Embedded Vectors (LEVs)”。纳米颗粒和 LEVs 是确定肿瘤中质量传输规律的理想探针,可用作成像对比增强剂,并可用于选择性地将治疗递送到病变部位。它们的大小、形状、密度和表面化学性质主导着血流中的对流传输、边缘效应、细胞黏附、选择性细胞摄取以及亚细胞运输和定位。正如这里所论证的,对癌症中传输差异的理解,称为“传输肿瘤物理学”,揭示了肿瘤学中一个有前途的新前沿:开发利用质量传输差异的病变特异性递送颗粒,以实现更高效和减少副作用的治疗。