Title:Shear Stress-sensitive Carriers for Localized Drug Delivery
Volume: 22
Issue: 38
Author(s): Yu Xia, Chun-Yang Shi, Wei Xiong, Xiao-Long Hou, Jian-Guo Fang and Wen-Qing Wang
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Vascular stenosis, shear stress, sensitive, carrier, targeting, drug delivery.
Abstract: Stenosis of the critical blood vessels, which occurs in a variety of cardiovascular
and cerebrovascular diseases, is one of leading causes of death in the world. Vascular stenosis
will significantly alter the hemodynamic features in the vessel. Hemodynamic shear
stress, one of the most important physical parameters of blood flow, will be dramatically
elevated at the stenotic site. When platelets flow through the constricted site, they will sense
these abnormally high shear stresses, and then respond by activating, sticking to the vascular
wall, and aggregating at these sites. The shear-dependent platelet activation inspired a novel
targeting platform—shear stress activated drug targeting delivery. The shear-activated drug
delivery systems preferentially release their content under elevated shear stress, providing a
novel approach to cure various diseases, in particular, cardiovascular diseases. In this review,
we, on one hand, introduced the features of hemodynamic shear stress under both
physiological and pathological conditions. On the other hand, we summarized the carriers
displaying sensitivity to shear stress, such as liposomes, aggregations, gels, emulsions, in addition to the factors
affecting the mechanical properties of them. Lastly, the clinical applications and prospects of this novel drug
targeting strategy were discussed. It is hoped that, with a better understanding of shear stress-sensitive carriers
and their targeted principle, a novel targeted drug delivery strategy will be one day applied in the clinics of the
future.
