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"pH phoresis": a new concept that can be used for improving drug delivery to tumor cells
1School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. yywon@ecn.purdue.edu
Abstract:
We propose a new concept describing how nanoparticles composed of weak polybases (such as polyamines) would behave when they are exposed to a pH gradient; weak polybase-containing particles will tend to accumulate preferentially in low pH regions under a pH gradient environment. This phenomenon, which we term "pH phoresis", may provide a useful mechanism for improving the delivery of drugs to cancer cells in solid tumor tissues.
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