Drug Delivery Across Physiological Barriers

Silvia Muro is an associate professor in the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research and the Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, USA. She obtained her PhD in sciences (molecular biology) from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain. She received a postdoctoral training in drug delivery and obtained a research assistant professor position in the Pharmacology Department at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. Her research focuses on targeting and transport of nanomedicines into and across cells, with emphasis on delivery of biological therapeutics for treatment of inherited enzyme deficiencies. Her work has received awards from the Controlled Release Society, the American Society for Nanomedicine, and others, and since 2012 she is a standing member of the Nanotechnology Study Section [NANO] of the USA National Institute of Health.

Introduction. Physiological Barriers Controlling Penetration and Transport of Substances in the Body. Structure and function of epithelial and endothelial barriers. The plasma membrane as a semipermeable barrier. Biology and regulation of protein sorting and vesicular transport. Pathogens and intracellular transport. Strategies for Drug Penetration across Tissue Compartments. Drug transport across the skin. Mucosal barriers. Transport of therapeutics across the gastrointestinal epithelium. Crossing the endothelial barrier. Nanoparticle-based drug delivery to solid tumors. Drug Transport into Cells and Subsequent Intracellular Trafficking. Membrane lipids and drug transport. Drug delivery systems that fuse with the plasmalemma. Endocytosis and the endolysosomal route in drug delivery. Endo-lysosomal escape. Intracellular transport to the mitochondria and other organelles.