Bioactive compounds, such as carotenoids, polyphenols, and essential oils, hold substantial promise due to their potential health benefits. Despite this potential, challenges like environmental instability and poor solubility significantly hinder their bioavailability and practical application. Advances in the design and engineering of delivery systems are essential to address these issues. Lately, biobased micro/nanocapsules and exosomes have come to the fore as promising delivery carriers because of their self-assembly properties, biocompatibility, and efficient encapsulation. However, a major challenge remains in achieving highly precise targeted delivery to specific sites, thereby enhancing their bioavailability and overall efficacy. To address this, exploration of novel self-targeting materials along with engineering strategies like chemical modification, grafting, and surface functionalization is needed.

This Research Topic aims to gather cutting-edge research focused on developing novel microcapsules or exosomes with enhanced targeting capabilities through construction and performance evaluation of advanced micro/nano-precision delivery systems. The interplay between different materials, structural design choices, and engineering strategies can significantly impact the environmental stability, biological accessibility, controlled release, and cellular uptake of bioactive compounds. Understanding these interactions is key to refining their physiological functions at both molecular and mechanistic levels, advancing the field as a whole.

To gather further insights in advancing nanoparticle systems, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Interaction mechanisms between bioactive compounds and carrier materials: Intermolecular binding, interfacial behavior, and interaction mechanisms involving materials like polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids with active molecules.

• Influence of carrier engineering on physicochemical properties and morphology: Exploring the modulation of carrier (and payload) size, solubility, stability, and micromorphology through material composition, engineering design, assembly methods, and matrix structure.

• Mechanisms for enhancing the environmental stability of bioactive compounds via nanocarriers: Elucidating at molecular and structural levels how carrier structure, composition, and surface properties protect active compounds against environmental stresses such as light, heat, pH, and ions.

• Mechanisms by which carrier structure and assembly methods modulate digestion, release, and absorption behavior: Clarifying the impact of physical carrier structures (e.g., core-shell, multilayer, porous) and assembly techniques (e.g., emulsification, complex coacervation, self-assembly) on the release kinetics, biological accessibility, and absorption/transport of active compounds in simulated gastrointestinal conditions.

• Cellular uptake and physiological functions of targeted delivery systems: Investigating carrier-cell interactions, endocytosis pathways under different targeting strategies (passive vs. active targeting), and their mechanisms for modulating the physiological and biochemical functions of bioactive compounds (e.g., expression of related proteins or signaling pathways involved in antioxidant or anti-inflammatory activities).

Articles of types such as short communications, case studies, review papers, and original research articles are welcomed for submission.

Are you interested in contributing a manuscript to this Research Topic?

Advanced Nanocarrier Systems: Engineering Microcapsules and Exosomes for Targeted Delivery of Bioactive Compounds