Pericytes are contractile mural cells that wrap around the endothelial cells of capillaries and venules. Depending on the triggers by cellular signals, pericytes have specific functionality in tumor microenvironments, properties of potent stem cells, and plasticity in cellular pathology. These features of pericytes can be activated for the promotion or reduction of angiogenesis. Frontier studie...

avicenna (980 – 1037 ad) known as the prince of physicians in the west was one of the most prominent persian thinkers, philosophers, and physicians. owing to his interests in cardiology, he authored considerable works on different aspects of cardiology. “resaley-e-ragshenasi” (book on pulsology) and”kitab al-adviyt- ol-qalbiye” (the book on drugs for cardiovascular diseases) are avicenna’s grea...

the goal of this research is to determine the feasibility of loading rifampin into mesoporous silica nanoparticles. rifampin was selected as a model lipophilic molecule since it is a well-documented and much used anti tuberculosis drug. the mesoporous silica nanoparticles were prepared by using tetraethyl ortho silicate and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (as surfactant); the prepared nanoparti...

A new procedure for the encapsulation of non-diffusible drugs into human erythrocytes was developed. With as little as 50 ml of blood and by using a new apparatus, it was possible to encapsulate a variety of biologically active compounds into erythrocytes in 2 h at room temperature and under blood-banking conditions. The process, which is based on two sequential hypotonic dilutions of washed re...

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) classified with Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn Dis‐ ease (CD) is an idiopathic, life-long, destructive chronic inflammatory disease in gastrointes‐ tinal tract [1] and probably multi-factorial disease caused by interplay of the external and internal environment. Little is known about the mechanism of pathogenesis of the disease but it has been reported that i...

Protein nanoparticles are potentially valuable carriers for drug delivery, because they can be easily designed to perform various functions such as targeting specific cells and penetration of tissues.

Controlled release drug delivery systems 1 are those dosage formulations designed to release an active ingredient at rates, which differ significantly from their corresponding conventional dosage forms. The controlled release drug delivery systems are aimed at controlling the rate of drug delivery, sustaining the duration of therapeutic activity and/or targeting the delivery of the drug to a ti...

although the conventional therapies have obviously improved the conditions of patients with cancer, some mechanisms of resistance have led scientists to use alternative agents that can penetrate in most solid tumors. furthermore, the success of cancer therapies depends on limiting the uptake of toxins to normal tissues and their selectivity to malignant cells. the involvement of natural and gen...

We report a new thermal targeting method in which a thermally responsive drug carrier selectively accumulates in a solid tumor that is maintained above physiological temperature by externally applied, focused hyperthermia. We synthesized two thermally responsive polymers that were designed to exhibit a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) transition slightly above physiological temperatur...

In the treatment of cancer, targeting of anticancer drugs to the tumor microenvironment is highly desirable. Not only does this imply accurate tumor targeting but also minimal drug release en route to the tumor and maximal drug release once there. Here we describe high-loading, "stealth-like" doxorubicin micelles as a pro-drug delivery system, which upon light activation, leads to burst-like do...