Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 22, 2025
Models and Methods to Evaluate Transport of Drug Delivery Systems Across Cellular Barriers
Published on: October 17, 2013
Penetration and translocation of functional inorganic nanomaterials into biological barriers
Yalin Cong1, Didar Baimanov2, Yunlong Zhou3
1CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology of China & Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China; CAS-HKU Joint Laboratory of Metallomics on Health and Environment, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
Abstract:
With excellent physicochemical properties, inorganic nanomaterials (INMs) have exhibited a series of attractive applications in biomedical fields. Biological barriers prevent successful delivery of nanomedicine in living systems that limits the development of nanomedicine especially for sufficient delivery of drugs and effective therapy. Numerous researches have focused on overcoming these biological barriers and homogeneity of organisms to enhance therapeutic efficacy, however, most of these strategies fail to resolve these challenges. In this review, we present the latest progress about how INMs interact with biological barriers and penetrate these barriers. We also summarize that both native structure and components of biological barriers and physicochemical properties of INMs contributed to the penetration capacity. Knowledge about the relationship between INMs structure and penetration capacity will guide the design and application of functional and efficient nanomedicine in the future.
Related Concept Videos
01:25Physiological Barriers
The blood endothelial barrier is the most porous of these. It allows all small ionized, un-ionized, and lipophilic molecules to pass through the endothelial lining into the interstitial space...
01:24Cellular Membranes and Drug Transport
Phospholipids arrange themselves into a bilayer, with hydrophilic heads oriented outward and hydrophobic tails facing inward.
01:23Mechanisms of Drug Absorption: Paracellular, Transcellular, and Vesicular Transport
However, most drugs use the transcellular route, traversing directly through the cell membranes via two mechanisms: passive and active transport. Passive...
01:17Pore Transport and Ion-Pair Transport
Pore transport, also known as convective transport, is a process where small molecules like urea, water, and sugars rapidly cross cell membranes as though there were channels or pores in the membrane. Although direct microscopic evidence is limited but the concept of pores or channels is widely accepted based on physiological evidence. Despite the lack of direct...
01:23Factors Affecting Drug Distribution: Physiological Barriers
The capillary endothelial barrier allows only smaller molecules below 600 Da (Daltons) to pass through. It also restricts drugs like heparin that are bound to blood components, limiting their movement within the bloodstream.
The...