ABSTRACT
A biomarker or biological marker is in general a substance used as an indicator of biological state. Biomarkers are characteristic biological properties that can be detected and measured in parts of the body like the blood or tissue. They may indicate either normal or diseased processes in the body. Biomarkers can be specific cells, molecules, or genes, gene products, enzymes, or hormones. As an important biological indicator of cancer status and progression for the physiological state of the cell at a specific time, biomarkers represent powerful tools for monitoring the course of cancer and gauging efficacy and safety of novel therapeutic agents. The recent progress of proteomics has opened new avenues for cancerrelated biomarker discovery. Advances in proteomics are contributing to the understanding of pathophysiology of neoplasia, cancer diagnosis, and anticancer drug discovery. One of the major contributions proteomics has made to the medical and pharmaceutical communities is the identification of potential drug targets.
ABSTRACT
Novel drug delivery attempts to either sustain drug action at a predetermined rate, or by maintaining a relatively constant, effective drug level in the body with concomitant minimization of undesirable side effects. The vesicular systems are highly ordered assemblies of one or several concentric lipid bilayer formed, when certain amphiphillic building blocks are confronted with water. The vesicular system such as liposomes, niosomes, sphingosomes, ethosomes, transferosomes and pharmacosomes are used to improve the therapeutic index of both existing and new drug molecules by encapsulating an active medicament inside vesicular structure in one such system. It prolongs the existence of the drug in systemic circulation and finally reduces the toxicity. Such different systems are widely used in gene delivery, tumor targeting, oral formulations, in stability and permeability problems of drugs. Now a days vesicle as a carrier system have become the vehicle of choice in drug delivery and lipid vesicles were found to be of value in immunology, membrane biology and diagnostic technique and most recently in genetic engineering.