Srinivas Kamath , Amin Ariaee , Amer Abdelhafez, Zarnab Asif, Nicole S.L. Chan, Kate Collins, Alexander Hunter, Paul Joyce
{"title":"Microbiome-active drug delivery systems (MADDS): Leveraging microbial stimuli for controlled drug release","authors":"Srinivas Kamath , Amin Ariaee , Amer Abdelhafez, Zarnab Asif, Nicole S.L. Chan, Kate Collins, Alexander Hunter, Paul Joyce","doi":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115720","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115720","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The human microbiome comprises diverse microbial communities that inhabit tissues and biofluids throughout the body, including the gastrointestinal tract, lungs, vagina, and skin. These sites create dynamic microenvironments rich in enzymes, metabolites, and chemical gradients that act both as biological barriers and as localised targets for drug delivery. This review provides an overview of Microbiome-Active Drug Delivery Systems (MADDS), an emerging class of platforms that exploit microbial stimuli for site-specific therapeutic release. Unlike conventional systems that simply coexist with the microbiome, MADDS harness resident microbes and their metabolites to trigger drug activation, retention, or release. This enables spatially precise delivery of small molecules, biologics, and live biotherapeutic products (LBPs). Key strategies include enzyme-, environment-, metabolite-, biofilm-, and receptor-responsive designs, each tailored to microbial niches and applied across infectious, inflammatory, and metabolic disorders. However, challenges remain, including microbiome variability between individuals, regulatory uncertainty around hybrid biologic-material systems, and the need for scalable GMP-compliant manufacturing. This review therefore outlines the current approaches for engineering MADDS and the future steps required for clinical translation. By exploiting microbial cues for controlled drug release, MADDS offer a practical route to more targeted and patient-specific therapies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7254,"journal":{"name":"Advanced drug delivery reviews","volume":"227 ","pages":"Article 115720"},"PeriodicalIF":17.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145288305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shaobo Yang , Mengdi Yang , Maria Jennings , Hania Timek , Amber E. Haley , Rizwan Romee , Jiahe Li
{"title":"Repurposing the bacterial surface display technology for drug delivery","authors":"Shaobo Yang , Mengdi Yang , Maria Jennings , Hania Timek , Amber E. Haley , Rizwan Romee , Jiahe Li","doi":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115701","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115701","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Bacteria have emerged as versatile platforms for therapeutic delivery, owing to their inherent adaptability, genetic tractability, and ability to interface with the human microbiome and immune system. This review explores the evolution of bacterial engineering for medical applications, emphasizing drug delivery strategies enabled by bacterial surface display technologies. We outline the advantages of surface display, such as enhanced localization, prolonged therapeutic activity, and reduced systemic toxicity, over conventional bacterial secretion and lysis-based delivery methods. The review details key biological mechanisms of surface display in both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, including outer membrane proteins, sortase-mediated anchoring, and spore-based systems. We also highlight emerging applications of surface-displayed cytokines, nanobodies, and immunomodulatory proteins in cancer therapy, vaccine development, microbiome engineering, and animal health. Innovative approaches combining bacterial display with conjugation systems and biosensors expand the potential of these living therapeutics for precise, responsive, and programmable interventions. Furthermore, we propose a future roadmap that leverages computational tools such as AlphaFold and in silico screening to rationally identify optimal outer membrane anchors, accelerating the design of next-generation surface display platforms. While challenges remain, including regulatory hurdles and microbial stability, continued interdisciplinary innovation with synthetic biology promises to transform engineered bacteria into clinically viable therapeutic agents. This review positions bacterial surface display as a powerful and underexplored modality for targeted drug delivery, bridging synthetic biology, immune engineering, and translational medicine.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7254,"journal":{"name":"Advanced drug delivery reviews","volume":"227 ","pages":"Article 115701"},"PeriodicalIF":17.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145216059","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cell-based treatments of lung diseases: overview and outlook","authors":"A.M. van der Does , L. v. Schledorn , R. Olmer","doi":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115712","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115712","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Chronic lung diseases (CLD), including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension, represent a significant health burden worldwide and their incidence is steadily increasing. Specifically, COPD and lung fibrosis lead to progressive tissue loss, particularly in the alveolar region, and can currently mainly be treated symptomatically, with some therapies slowing down progression. Regenerative cell therapy offers promising approaches to repair and restore permanently damaged lung tissue, focusing on different cell types such as epithelial, stromal, endothelial and pluripotent stem cells. Despite positive results in preclinical studies and initial clinical trials, large successes are lagging behind. This shows that there is still a considerable need for further research into e.g. optimal conditions, including cell sources and administration methods in humans. Challenges such as successful translation of beneficial strategies in animal models, safety risks of new strategies and the control of cell localization need to be addressed in more detail. Future research approaches should therefore support the identification of suitable cell types, the improvement of cell protection strategies and the development of predictable human models to enable the successful clinical application of regenerative cell therapy in CLD.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7254,"journal":{"name":"Advanced drug delivery reviews","volume":"227 ","pages":"Article 115712"},"PeriodicalIF":17.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145282665","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kieran Lau , Hien A. Tran , Renjian Tan , Tushar Kumeria , Asheeta A. Prasad , Richard P. Tan , Khoon S. Lim
{"title":"Advancements in 3D-printing strategies towards developing effective implantable drug delivery systems: Recent applications and opportunities","authors":"Kieran Lau , Hien A. Tran , Renjian Tan , Tushar Kumeria , Asheeta A. Prasad , Richard P. Tan , Khoon S. Lim","doi":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115711","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115711","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The development of implantable drug delivery systems has played a transformative role in modern medicine through enabling more precise, localized and sustained delivery of therapeutics. This has advantages over systemic delivery routes that often provide suboptimal drug concentrations, frequent redosing requirements and off-target effects. However, one ongoing limitation of current implantable systems has been the inability to navigate the complex and dynamic biological processes. The physical architecture of implantable constructs serves as a powerful method to control the therapeutic release from a biomaterial. Additive manufacturing, or commonly 3D-printing, has emerged as one of the most versatile and widely adopted approaches used in the development of novel biomaterials with macro to nanoscale resolution, offering an efficient and cost-effective method to create highly complex geometries, hierarchical architectures to enable region-specific drug loading. Therefore, in this review, we describe and critically evaluate the implementation of 3D-printing techniques towards designing implantable drug delivery systems. Furthermore, we analyze the effectiveness of existing strategies, discussing their utility, with a particular focus on constructs that are capable of control and sustained release of multiple drugs towards therapeutic treatments and tissue engineering. Lastly, this review discusses the current challenges and the keys opportunities that remain underutilized towards the developing the next generation of implantable drug delivery systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7254,"journal":{"name":"Advanced drug delivery reviews","volume":"227 ","pages":"Article 115711"},"PeriodicalIF":17.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145282664","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yeonju Boo , Sang-Hun Choi , Jihoon Kim , Won Jong Kim
{"title":"Nitric oxide-modulating biomaterials for therapeutic Immunoengineering","authors":"Yeonju Boo , Sang-Hun Choi , Jihoon Kim , Won Jong Kim","doi":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115718","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115718","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nitric oxide (NO) plays dual and context-dependent roles in the immune system, functioning as either an immunostimulatory or immunosuppressive mediator depending on its concentration, cellular source, and exposure dynamics. Dysregulated endogenous NO production is implicated in the pathogenesis of a broad spectrum of diseases. Therapeutic modulation of NO levels via engineered delivery systems represents a promising approach for immune regulation. This review provides a comprehensive overview of NO-modulating biomaterials, with a focus on two opposing strategies: NO scavenging to remove pathologically excessive NO and NO delivery to restore physiologically essential NO levels. We first examined the distinct molecular mechanisms and cell type-specific effects of endogenous and exogenous NO, highlighting its pleiotropic immunoregulatory roles in macrophages, dendritic cells, T cells, B cells, neutrophils, and myeloid-derived suppressor cells. We then classify representative NO scavengers and NO donors according to their chemical structures and activation triggers, including pH, redox, enzyme, and stimulus-responsive systems. Next, we discuss the design and application of advanced biomaterial-based platforms that integrate these agents into immunoengineering interventions for various disease models. Finally, we address the key translational challenges and design principles required to achieve precise, spatiotemporally controlled, and disease-selective NO modulation. Collectively, this review summarizes recent advances in NO-regulating biomaterials and highlights their potential to reprogram immune responses for therapeutic benefit.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7254,"journal":{"name":"Advanced drug delivery reviews","volume":"227 ","pages":"Article 115718"},"PeriodicalIF":17.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145283377","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Débora Basílio-Queirós , Isabelle Rivière , Sjoukje J.C. van der Stegen , Nico Lachmann
{"title":"iPSC-derived T cells and macrophages: Manufacturing and next-generation application approaches","authors":"Débora Basílio-Queirós , Isabelle Rivière , Sjoukje J.C. van der Stegen , Nico Lachmann","doi":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115713","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115713","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) technology has transformed the immunotherapy field with significant success in the treatment of hematological diseases. Nonetheless, challenges in scalability, donor variability as well as in the treatment of solid tumors warrants innovative solutions. Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology has revolutionized the filed as an emerging renewable source for CAR-based therapies, facilitating the development of off-the-shelf immune cells products. This review focuses on the recent developments of iPSC-derived CAR-T cells and CAR-macrophages, including differentiation protocols, gene engineering strategies and mitigation of Graft-<em>versus</em>-Host Disease (GvHD), as well as alternatives for histocompatibility constraints. Additionally, we will discuss how iPSC-derivation enhances accessibility of low-frequency immune cell populations including MR1-restricted αβT, γδT, Natural Killer T (NKT) and Microglial cells. Despite great progress achieved, the limited but continuously growing clinical experience and manufacturing challenges, warrant further exploration. Advancements in manufacturing scalability and genetic engineering position iPSC-based therapies at the forefront of clinical strategies to address unmet clinical needs in cancer treatment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7254,"journal":{"name":"Advanced drug delivery reviews","volume":"227 ","pages":"Article 115713"},"PeriodicalIF":17.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145283687","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alita F. Miller , Sri Sruthi Potluru , Sarah M. Thormann , Yuyan Wang , Juliane Nguyen
{"title":"Advanced adhesion and targeting strategies to prolong gut residence time and improve eLBP efficacy in colonic diseases","authors":"Alita F. Miller , Sri Sruthi Potluru , Sarah M. Thormann , Yuyan Wang , Juliane Nguyen","doi":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115722","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115722","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Engineered live biotherapeutic products (eLBPs) are genetically modified microorganisms being explored as a novel treatment modality for gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. The therapeutic potential is driven by their ability to selectively interact with host tissues while maintaining inherent probiotic properties that promote gut health. A key limitation of orally administered eLBPs is their poor competitive fitness against resident gut microbes, which often leads to rapid passage through the GI tract and reduced therapeutic efficacy. This challenge can be addressed by engineering eLBPs to extend their residence time in the gut and enhance the precision of therapeutic delivery at the target site. Targeted adhesion is a prevalent mechanism by which eLBPs achieve increased retention within the GI tract. Various targets in the colon have been used as anchors for non-resident microbes such as mucus, the extracellular matrix, and tumorous tissues. Additionally, a range of strategies have been explored for microbial targeting, including chemical surface modifications, genetically engineered surface display systems, metabolic engineering, and stimuli-responsive approaches. In this review, we provide insights into targets and targeting strategies that have been implemented in eLBP development and highlight the gaps that must be addressed to enhance eLBP efficacy through prolonged gut retention. We discuss the development of novel eLBP strains that target various components within healthy or diseased colon tissues for improved efficacy, particularly for inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer. We conclude by detailing perspectives on eLBP design for clinically viable and effective therapeutics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7254,"journal":{"name":"Advanced drug delivery reviews","volume":"227 ","pages":"Article 115722"},"PeriodicalIF":17.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145367350","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tanya Chhibber , Dekker C. Deacon , Hamidreza Ghandehari , Robert L. Judson-Torres
{"title":"Recent advances in gene delivery for melanocyte-associated disorders","authors":"Tanya Chhibber , Dekker C. Deacon , Hamidreza Ghandehari , Robert L. Judson-Torres","doi":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115703","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115703","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Melanocytes are cells that produce the pigment melanin, which provides color to the skin, eyes, and hair. Dysregulation in melanocyte function, viability, or differentiation can result in melanocyte-associated disorders that can be broadly classified based on etiology as melanocyte hyperproliferation and hyperactivation, defects in melanin synthesis, inflammatory alterations in melanin production/trafficking, melanocyte destruction, and defects in melanocyte migration. While most of these disorders are of benign origin, the cosmetic implications of these conditions are associated with significant psychosocial burden and cultural stigma, having a significant impact on affected individuals. These conditions are primarily driven by changes in underlying gene expression (both at the genetic and epigenetic levels). Targeting the underlying genetic and transcriptomic changes in melanocyte-associated disorders using gene replacement (plasmid DNA, mRNA), gene knockdown (siRNA), or miRNA replacement (miRNA) presents a promising strategy for developing treatments for these conditions. The delivery of naked nucleic acid molecules is challenging, and lipid- and polymer-based particles have been widely evaluated for the successful delivery of biologically active nucleic acids to the melanocytes. This review provides an overview of melanocyte-associated pigmentary disorders and their underlying genetic factors and examines current preclinical and clinical efforts using non-viral polymeric and lipid-based delivery systems for plasmid DNA and RNA-based therapeutics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7254,"journal":{"name":"Advanced drug delivery reviews","volume":"227 ","pages":"Article 115703"},"PeriodicalIF":17.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145216057","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cecília Ferreira , Bruno Sarmento , Cláudia Martins
{"title":"In vitro models of the interplay between glioblastoma and blood–brain barrier for stratifying drug efficacy","authors":"Cecília Ferreira , Bruno Sarmento , Cláudia Martins","doi":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115702","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115702","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most lethal brain cancer in adults, with a dismal prognosis and no curative therapies available. The treatment landscape remains largely stagnant, relying on tumor resection, temozolomide (TMZ) chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, which are hampered by the blood-brain barrier (BBB) that limits drug blood-to-brain permeability and, consequently, therapeutic efficacy. Over 98 % of potential therapeutic candidates fail to penetrate the BBB, significantly contributing to the high recurrence rates of GBM. The urgent need for improved drug delivery strategies is compounded by the limitations of current preclinical models, which often inadequately mimic the complex BBB-GBM interaction. This review discusses recent advancements in the development of <em>in vitro</em> models that accurately replicate the BBB and GBM interplay, ranging from simplified two-dimensional (2D) systems to sophisticated three-dimensional (3D) constructs. Innovations such as microfluidic devices and multicellular spheroid cultures are highlighted as promising methods to enhance physiological relevance and predictive value in drug testing. By emphasizing the interplay between GBM and its microenvironment with the BBB, these models aim to accelerate the discovery and efficacy testing of novel anti-GBM agents. Ultimately, this review underscores the critical need for more representative <em>in vitro</em> platforms that not only reduce reliance on animal models but also adhere to the principles of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction, refinement) in biomedical research, paving the way for more effective therapeutic interventions against GBM.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7254,"journal":{"name":"Advanced drug delivery reviews","volume":"227 ","pages":"Article 115702"},"PeriodicalIF":17.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145194952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Amaka J. Epoh , Jailen H. Doyle , Irnela Bajrovic , Maria A. Croyle
{"title":"Composition, stabilization and delivery of virus-based vaccines: considerations to break free of the cold chain","authors":"Amaka J. Epoh , Jailen H. Doyle , Irnela Bajrovic , Maria A. Croyle","doi":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115715","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.addr.2025.115715","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Within the last 50 years, the emergence and re-emergence of widespread severe viral infections have caused some of the deadliest global pandemics. Thus, development of novel technologies that effectively stabilize and deliver virus-based vaccines are of high priority to public health. This review serves as a primer for those interested in developing and testing novel formulations and methods for administration of vaccines against viral infection. It starts with a brief history of immunization practices and the role they played in the evolution of vaccines available today. A brief section summarizing virus infection and immunology is provided to assist in design of studies for <em>in vivo</em> testing of novel vaccines. Physical properties of viruses are summarized with known physico-chemical mechanisms of virus degradation outlined. General formulation strategies to prevent degradation are discussed. Traditional and novel dosage forms for vaccine and immunization methods and up and coming technologies are also described.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7254,"journal":{"name":"Advanced drug delivery reviews","volume":"227 ","pages":"Article 115715"},"PeriodicalIF":17.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145283376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}