Organelle and Molecular Targeting by Milane, Lara Scheherazade; Amiji, Mansoor M.;

Short description:

Drugs must be delivered to the target tissue or, better yet, the target organelles. A more specific target minimizes toxicity and side effects and maximizes therapeutic effect. This book is a comprehensive review of Organelle Targeting.

Long description:

We have surpassed the omics era and are truly in the Age of Molecular Therapeutics. The fast-paced development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, such as the mRNA vaccines encoding the viral spike protein, demonstrated the need for and capability of molecular therapy and nanotechnology-based solutions for drug delivery. In record speed, the SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA genome was sequenced and shared with the scientific community, allowing the rapid design of molecular therapeutics. The mRNA vaccines exploit the host cell endoplasmic reticulum to produce viral spike proteins for antigen presentation and recognition by the innate and adaptive immune system. Lipid nanoparticles enable the delivery of the fragile, degradation-sensitive nucleic acid payloads. Molecular-based therapeutics and nanotechnology solutions continue to drive the scientific and medical response to the COVID-19 pandemic as new mRNA, DNA, and protein-based vaccines are developed and approved and the emergency use approved vaccines are rapidly manufactured and distributed throughout the globe.

The need for molecular therapies and drug delivery solutions is clear, and as these therapies progress and become more specialized there will be important advancements in organelle targeting. For example, using organelle targeting to direct lipid nanoparticles with mRNA payloads to the endoplasmic reticulum would increase the efficacy of mRNA vaccines, reducing the required dose and therefore the biomanufacturing demand. Likewise, improving the delivery of DNA therapeutics to the nucleus would improve efficacy. Organelles and molecules have always been drug targets, but until recently we have not had the tools or capability to design and develop such highly specific therapeutics. Organelle targeting has far-reaching implications. For example, mitochondria are central to both energy production and intrinsic apoptosis. Effectively targeting and manipulating mitochondria has therapeutic applications for diseases such as myopathies, cancer, neurodegeneration, progerias, diabetes, and the natural aging process. The SARS-CoV-2 vaccines that exploit the endoplasmic reticulum (for mRNA vaccines) and the nucleic translational process (DNA vaccines) attest to the need for organelle and molecular therapeutics. This book covers the status, demand, and future of organelle- and molecularly targeted therapeutics that are critical to the advancement of modern medicine. Organelle and molecular targeting is the drug design and drug delivery approach of today and the future; understanding this approach is essential for students, scientists, and clinicians contributing to modern medicine.

With the advent of the molecular therapeutics era surpassing the omics era, the specialization in molecular therapies and nanotechnology solutions have made rapid strides in organelle targeting. The fast-paced development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, such as the mRNA vaccines encoding the viral spike protein, demonstrates the need and capability of molecular therapies and sophisticated nanotechnology-based solutions for drug delivery. While effectively targeting organelles such as mitochondria have therapeutic applications for diseases such as myopathies, cancer, neurodegeneration, progerias, diabetes, and the natural aging process, the exploitation of endoplasmic reticulum as demonstrated in the evelopment of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine only further emphasizes the importance of organelle targeting and molecular therapeutics. This is an excellent book on organelle and molecular targeting, which will appeal to students, scientists, and clinicians.

The purpose of the book, according to the authors, is to summarize the current advancements and principles of molecular and organelle targeting with the hope that this will advance the future of the molecular therapeutics era. I absolutely agree with the authors given the success of the development of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. These are indeed very worthy objectives. The book does meet these objectives by, in the first section of the book, summarizing organism-level and tissue-level barriers and cellular localizations and, in the second section, discussing the important concepts of overcoming cellular barriers for specific organelle and molecular targeting.

The book is written for students, scientists, and clinicians. In my opinion, the book will also appeal to pulmonologists, cardiologists, gastroenterologists, oncologists, neurologists, and immunologists. The book does meet the needs of the intended audience. The authors are credible authorities in this field based on their credentials and publication records.

The book is divided into two sections. The first section is sub-divided into 10 chapters and the second section is sub-divided into eight chapters. The first section of the book starts with an introduction on organism-level and tissue-level barriers and cellular localization. The first chapter deals with the route of administration, distribution, and tissue-specific challenges.

Other chapters discuss essentials of nanomedicine and drug-delivery approaches, escaping immune clearance, tumor targeting, and targeting immune cells and dysfunction. The chapter on escaping immune clearance discusses stealth functionalization, a chemical approach to prolong the blood circulation of nanoparticles (NPs) in the human host to ensure targeted delivery by means of achieving stealth functionality through polymer grafting. The construction ofplatelet-derived nanoparticles (PNPs) by wrapping platelet membranes onto solid NP cores and how they target passively using natural markers on the cell surface or actively through engagement with specific markers such as CLEC-2, P-selectin, and specific integrins is quite interesting. The chapter on tumor targeting discusses how systemic side effects of cytotoxic chemotherapy could be minimized by the development of tumor targeted therapy specific for receptor mutations or proteins that regulate cellular functions and gene expression in tumor cells. The description of various signal transduction inhibitors is very interesting. The second section of the book discusses the various approaches of overcoming cellular barriers such as the plasma membrane and mucus barriers. Another interesting chapter deals with how the lysosomes serve as a signaling hub and how targeting therapies for lysosomes have therapeutic indications in cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, autoimmune diseases, and other indications such as lysosomal storage diseases, infectious diseases, and cardiovascular diseases. Other chapters discuss how microtubule targeting is helpful in cancer treatment. There is an interesting chapter on the importance of localizing therapeutics to the endoplasmic reticulum with several illustrations. An independent chapter on targeting mitochondria explains how mitochondrial nanomedicine could be helpful in the treatment of cancer. The chapter on directed therapies to nucleic acid and cytoplasmic RNA provides extensive coverage on RNA and the importance of targeting cytoplasmic RNA and current methods to target DNA and RNA. There is an interesting discussion on mRNA vaccines for COVID-19. The concluding chapter of the book deals with practical considerations for engineering nanoparticles for subcellular organelle targeting. Strategies to target the nucleus, mitochondria, and other subcellular targets like dendritic cells and exosomes are discussed. Characterization and evaluation of subcellular localization of nanomaterials using flourescence-tagged systems such as Flourescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (FLIM) and Rotor-Based Organelle Viscosity Imaging is discussed (ROVI). The book includes several high-quality colored illustrations making the subject matter easily understandable. The index is quite helpful in easy localization of the various topics of interest.

This is an excellent book on organelle and molecular targeting, which will be quite useful for its intended audience including students, scientists, and clinicians, especially oncologists, gastroenterologists, cardiologists, neurologists, pulmonologists, and immunologists.

Omer Iqbal, MD, FACC, FESC(Loyola University Medical Center)

Table of Contents:

Preface. Acknowledgments. Editors. Contributors. SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION: ORGAN, TISSUE, AND CELLULAR LOCALIZATION. Route of Administration, Distribution, and Tissue-Specific Challenges. Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Approaches. Escaping Immune Clearance. Passive Drug Delivery, Mechanisms of Uptake, and Intracellular Trafficking. Tumor Targeting. Localizing Therapeutics to the Brain. Pulmonary Drug Delivery. Cardiovascular Drug Delivery. Localizing Therapeutics to the Gastrointestinal System. Targeting Immune Cells and Dysfunction. SECTION TWO: OVERCOMING CELLULAR BARRIERS. Overcoming the Plasma Membrane. Overcoming the Mucus Barrier. Directing Therapies to Lysosomes. Microtubule Targeting in Cancer Treatment. Localizing Therapeutics to the Endoplasmic Reticulum. Targeting Mitochondria. Directed Therapies to Nucleic Acid and Cytoplasmic RNA. Considerations for Engineering Nanoparticles for Achieving Subcellular Organelle Targeting. Index.