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Appropriate drug delivery
Developing a therapeutic substance is only the first step towards the production of a drug : the active molecules must then be delivered to the appropriate part of the body and in sufficient quantity. Yet along its journey from the site of administration to the target tissue, the drug is faced with barriers (mechanical, physico-chemical or enzymatic) responsible for significant losses and may also be degraded by the body’s metabolism (especially in the case of "biodrugs" such as proteins, fragile "macromolecules").
The necessity to increase the initial doses in response to these losses leads to undesirable, or even toxic, side effects that force the treatment to be discontinued. The solution : protecting the active substance in a "capsule" of a few nanometres : a nanovector. One still has to make these drug carriers "smart", i.e. able to release their passengers in the right place. In order to do so, they can be made to respond to a localised external stimulus : change in acidity, change in temperature, application of an extracorporeal magnetic field. Some nanovectors also have molecules placed on their surface, which can recognise the receptors of the target cells that they are supposed to attach to.
The challenge of the 21st century is personalised medicine : new "nanodrugs" will be able to deliver a therapeutic molecule as well as contain substances useful for the effective diagnostic tool that is imaging.
Physico-Chimie - Pharmacotechnie - Biopharmacie, CNRS-Université Paris 11
- Guérir en nanos (extrait du DVD Nanosciences Nanotechnologies)
Réalisation : Marcel Dalaise - Production : CNRS Images (2007)
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