Recent Advances in Macrophage-Mediated Drug Delivery Systems

• Main Authors: Liang T, Zhang R, Liu X, Ding Q, Wu S, Li C, Lin Y, Ye Y, Zhong Z, Zhou M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2021-04-01
• Series: International Journal of Nanomedicine
• Subjects: macrophage; macrophage membranes; drug delivery systems; inflammation; tumor; biomimetic
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/recent-advances-in-macrophage-mediated-drug-delivery-systems-peer-reviewed-article-IJN

Tiantian Liang,1,* Rongtao Zhang,1,* Xianbin Liu,1,* Qian Ding,1 Siqiong Wu,1 Chunhong Li,2 Yan Lin,2 Yun Ye,1 Zhirong Zhong,2 Meiling Zhou1 1Department of Pharmacy, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, 646000, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, 646000, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Meiling ZhouDepartment of Pharmacy, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, No. 25, Taiping Street, Luzhou, Sichuan, 646000, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail [e-mail] ZhongDepartment of Pharmaceutical, Sciences School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, No. 319 Zhongshan Road Jiangyang District, Luzhou, Sichuan, 646000, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail [e-mail]: Macrophages have been extensively used in the development of drug delivery systems, as they can prolong the circulation and release of drugs, extend their half-life, increase their stability and targeting ability, and reduce immunogenicity. Moreover, they have good biocompatibility and degradability and offer abundant surface receptors for targeted delivery of a wide variety of drugs. Macrophage-mediated drug delivery systems can be prepared by loading drugs or drug-loaded nanoparticles into macrophages, macrophage membranes or macrophage-derived vesicles. Although such systems can be used to treat inflammation, cancer, HIV infection and other diseases, they require further research and optimization since they have been assembled from diverse sources and therefore can have quite different physical and chemical properties. Moreover, potential cell-drug interactions can limit their application, and the biological activity of membrane proteins might be lost during membrane extraction and storage. In this review, we summarize the recent advances in this field and discuss the preparation of macrophage-mediated drug delivery systems, their advantages over other delivery systems, their potential applications and future lines of research.Keywords: macrophage, macrophage membranes, drug delivery systems, inflammation, tumor, biomimetic