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Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Intravital Microscopy of Tumor-associated Vasculature Using Advanced Dorsal Skinfold Window Chambers on Transgenic Fluorescent Mice
Published on: January 19, 2018
Diffusion-limited binding explains binary dose response for local arterial and tumour drug delivery
A R Tzafriri1, A D Levin, E R Edelman
1Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. ramitz@mit.edu
Drug efficacy depends on dose, diffusion, and binding. High binding potential (B(p)) drugs penetrate deeper at higher concentrations, explaining threshold dose effects for therapies like paclitaxel.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology
- Biophysics
- Drug Delivery
Background:
- Local drug delivery is crucial but its efficacy related to physicochemical properties and kinetics is unclear.
- Sustained clinical benefit observed after local bolus endovascular delivery challenges prolonged release assumptions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between drug dose, diffusion, and binding in determining tissue penetration and effect.
- To quantify the interplay of these factors for optimized local drug delivery.
Main Methods:
- Developed a quantitative framework integrating dose, saturable binding, and diffusion.
- Measured drug-specific binding parameters to target tissues.
- Employed model reduction and numerical simulations.
Main Results:
- The binding potential (B(p)) dictates drug transport and retention, defined as binding capacity over equilibrium dissociation constant times accessible tissue volume fraction.
- At low B(p) (< 1), drug transport is linear with concentration.
- At high B(p) (> 40), drug transport shows threshold dependence on applied surface concentration.
Conclusions:
- Drugs and antibodies with high B(p) exhibit enhanced tissue penetration at higher concentrations.
- Observed threshold dependence in tissue transport for paclitaxel and rapamycin may explain their in vivo efficacy thresholds.
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