Chuanbin Wu

Oral mucosal diseases often lead to structural damage and functional impairment due to high recurrence and malignant progression. Current therapeutic outcomes remain unsatisfactory owing to the complex oral microenvironment. Recent reviews have covered individual aspects of oral mucosal drug delivery, such as bioactive materials, mucoadhesive systems, and nanocarriers, but few have considered all four interrelated dimensions, including saliva-mediated adhesive barriers, epithelial permeability, biomechanical adaptability, and translational bottlenecks, in an integrated manner. The present review offers an attempt to consolidate these dimensions into one framework, aiming to provide readers with a more comprehensive perspective on the challenges inherent in this field. To underpin this framework, we conducted a structured literature search covering Web of Science (2015–2026), with predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria, followed by thematic synthesis. We first summarize the clinicopathological features and current treatment landscape of major oral mucosal diseases. We then dissect three critical barriers to transmucosal delivery: adhesive interference by salivary flow, epithelial tight junction resistance, and dynamic biomechanical forces (e.g., chewing, tongue movement). Drawing on saliva and mucosa interfacial physics, we rationalize the need for wet-adhesive material design and survey diverse mucoadhesive polymers and formulations, detailing their binding mechanisms. For epithelial penetration, we highlight design principles of microneedles and nanocarriers while critically discussing their dual-edged safety–efficacy profiles. To cope with the highly deformable oral biomechanical environment, we propose mechanical property matching and asymmetric structural designs. Finally, we outline key translational bottlenecks and future breakthroughs. This review offers an integrated, barrier-informed guide for next-generation oromucosal formulations.

Extracellular vesicles have emerged as promising cell-free therapeutic agents for wound healing due to their remarkable ability to modulate inflammatory responses, promote angiogenesis, and enhance tissue regeneration. These biological nanocarriers deliver bioactive cargo, including regulatory miRNAs, proteins, and lipids, to recipient cells, thereby modulating key signaling pathways governing tissue repair. However, the clinical translation of extracellular vesicle (EV)-based therapies is substantially limited by challenges in delivery efficiency. Local drug delivery systems (LDDSs) offer several key advantages, including reduced clearance by the reticuloendothelial system, enhanced biodistribution to wound sites, prolonged local residence time, and precise spatial targeting of therapeutic effects. This review systematically summarizes recent advances in EV-based therapies for wound repair, with a particular focus on in situ forming and implantable LDDSs, such as stimuli-responsive hydrogels. We comprehensively discuss the molecular and cellular mechanisms through which EVs facilitate healing across all phases of wound repair. Furthermore, we critically evaluate the evolution of these delivery platforms, transitioning from conventional passive-release systems to advanced stimuli-responsive hydrogels and microneedle systems, assessing their design rationale and integration with EV biology. We also address key translational challenges and opportunities: scalable manufacturing, standardized quality control, and regulatory pathways, offering a forward-looking view on clinical implementation of EV-LDDS hybrids in precision regenerative therapy.

Nanotheranostics integrate theranostic functions onto a single nanoscale platform, and have become a new approach in precision medicine. Nanotheranostics rely on probes. However, traditional fluorescent probes often exhibit aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) when loaded at high concentrations onto nanocarriers, severely limiting their imaging performance. Aggregation-induced emission agents (AIEgens) offer a solution to this long-standing problem through their ability to enhance fluorescence during aggregation. This mini-review systematically outlines nanotheranostic systems based on aggregation-induced emission (AIE). We first introduce the basic mechanism of AIE (the limitation of molecular internal motion) and its advantages over traditional fluorescent probes. Then, we discuss the design strategies of AIE nanoprobes according to the types of nanocarriers (including liposomes, polymer nanoparticles, and self-assembling systems). Additionally, we emphasize the disease-specific AIE nanotheranostic designs tailored for pathological microenvironments such as tumors, neurodegenerative diseases, and inflammatory diseases. Finally, we conduct an in-depth analysis of the current challenges hindering clinical translation, and propose future AIE nanotheranostic technologies applicable to clinical practice and the direction for personalized medicine.

Supramolecular inclusion complexes are widely used in drug delivery and other fields, with the advantages of controllable structures, high stability, excellent biocompatibility, and the ability to improve drug solubility and achieve controlled release. However, traditional screening methods rely on experimental trial and error, which suffer from long cycles, high costs, and low throughput, limiting research and development efficiency. In recent years, the development of artificial intelligence has provided new solutions for the screening of inclusion complexes. This paper systematically reviewed the core technological system of AI in the screening of inclusion complexes, focusing on two aspects: prediction and optimization of key properties and rational design of host molecules, summarizing their specific application progress. At the same time, we analyzed the current core challenges, including data scarcity, insufficient model interpretability, and limited generalization capabilities, and propose future development directions such as building standardized databases, integrating physicochemical principles (e.g., molecular mechanics and thermodynamics), and establishing closed-loop research and development platforms. This review aims to provide a systematic reference for the in-depth application of artificial intelligence in the field of supramolecular inclusion complexes.

Besides improving drug solubility and stability, co-amorphous systems (COAMS) have recently been reported to enhance the pulmonary delivery efficiency of d

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive, fatal interstitial lung disease of undefined etiology. In recent years, its global incidence has shown an upward trend, with a median survival of approximately 3–5 years after diagnosis. Currently, clinical treatment outcomes for this disease remain limited. Approved therapeutic agents are nintedanib, pirfenidone, and nerandomilast, all of which are predominantly administered orally. The oral route renders drugs susceptible to degradation in the gastrointestinal tract, leading to reduced drug bioavailability and limited therapeutic efficacy. In this work, we believe that nanodelivery systems (NDSs) represent a promising approach to address the limitations of traditional therapies. Most importantly, we emphasized that inhalation NDSs should be prioritized to enhance the accumulation efficiency of targeted drugs at pulmonary lesion sites. Collectively, this study aims to provide insights into the developmental prospects of NDSs for IPF, paving the way for more efficient and personalized therapeutic approaches to enhance treatment efficacy while minimizing side effects.

To mitigate the severe adverse effects associated with the systemic administration of doxorubicin (DOX), this study developed a dissolving microneedles (MN

Chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA)-induced pulmonary infection poses a severe global health threat due to limited therapeutic efficacy of conventional sys