Ensuring that the drug reaches its target site remains a key challenge for drug formulators. Anders Etzerodt describes an advanced stealth liposome approach to drug delivery in which confocal laser scanning fluorescence microscopy was used to evaluate the selective targeting of macrophages.
Increasing evidence underlines the importance of macrophages in many diseases, from inflammatory disorders1 to cancer.2 The maladaptive action of macrophages in the former are increasingly problematic in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel diseases, which are difficult to treat and highly challenging to cure. Certain macrophage subtypes are also known to promote tumour growth and metastasis, and therefore may provide specific therapeutic targets.
The advanced stealth liposome approach to drug delivery described here selectively targets macrophages and presents a potentially effective treatment strategy for inflammatory and malignant pathologies alike. Central to the evaluation of this approach was the technique of confocal laser scanning fluorescence microscopy using the fully automated Olympus FluoView FV10i system (see Figure 1).
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