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The Role of Cyclodextrins in Modulating Stimuli-Responsiveness for Anticancer Drug Delivery
Andrea Cesari1,2, Liu Zhengming3, Fabio Bellina3,4
1Dipartimento Di Chimica E Chimica Industriale, Università Di Pisa, Via Moruzzi 13, Pisa, 56124, Italy. andrea.cesari@unipi.it.
Pharmaceutical Research
|April 15, 2026
Summary
Cyclodextrins (CDs) are versatile excipients that can be engineered into stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems (SRDDS). This review focuses on how CDs themselves drive responsiveness for enhanced drug targeting, particularly in cancer therapy.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology and Materials Science
- Drug Delivery Systems
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Precision delivery of active pharmaceutical ingredients is a significant challenge, with conventional methods causing side effects.
- Stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems (SRDDS) offer controlled release triggered by microenvironments or external stimuli.
- Cyclodextrins (CDs) are biocompatible carriers with unique structures, suitable for advanced drug delivery.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review cyclodextrin-based stimuli-responsive systems (SRCDS) where CDs actively mediate responsiveness.
- To provide insights into design principles for clinical translation of CD-based SRDDS.
- To highlight chemical structure components responsible for stimuli responsiveness.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of cyclodextrin-based stimuli-responsive systems.
- Comparative analysis of different responsive mechanisms.
- Focus on SRCDS with pharmacological and biological experimental validation.
Main Results:
- Cyclodextrins can function as core components driving responsiveness in drug delivery systems.
- Various chemical structures within CDs contribute to stimuli-responsive behavior.
- SRCDS show significant promise, especially in cancer therapy applications.
Conclusions:
- Cyclodextrin-based stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems offer a promising platform for targeted therapies.
- Understanding the structure-function relationship is key to optimizing SRCDS design.
- Further research and clinical translation are warranted for CD-based SRDDS, particularly for oncology.
Keywords:
cyclodextrinshost–guest interactionnanocarriersstimuli responsive drug delivery systemsupramolecular chemistryMore Related Videos
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