Document Type

Article

Version Deposited

Published Version

Publication Date

1-1-2011

Publication Title

Journal of Nanomaterials

DOI

10.1155/2011/408675

Abstract

Polymeric nanomaterials have the potential to improve upon present chemotherapy delivery methods. They successfully reduce side effects while increasing dosage, increase residence time in the body, offer a sustained and tunable release, and have the ability to deliver multiple drugs in one carrier. However, traditional nanomaterial formulations have not produced highly therapeutic formulations to date due to their passive delivery methods and lack of rapid drug release at their intended site. In this paper, we have focused on a few “smart” technologies that further enhance the benefits of typical nanomaterials. Temperature and pHresponsive drug delivery devices were reviewed as methods for triggering release of encapsulating drugs, while aptamer and ligand conjugation were discussed as methods for targeted and intracellular delivery, with emphases on in vitro and in vivo works for each method.

Comments

This is an Open Access article distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

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