J Biomed Nanotechnol. 2014 Oct;10(10):2950-76. doi: 10.1166/jbn.2014.1980.
Ferritin is a ubiquitous iron storage protein responsible for maintaining the iron homeostasis in living organism and thereby protects the cell from oxidative damage. The ferritin protein cages have been used as a reaction vessel for the synthesis of various non-native metallic nanoparticles inside its core and also used as a nanocarrier for various applications. Lack of suitable non-viral carrier for targeted delivery of anticancer drugs and imaging agents is the major problem in cancer therapy and diagnosis. The pH dependent reversible assembling and disassembling property of ferritin renders it as a suitable candidate for encapsulating a variety of anticancer drugs and imaging probes. Ferritins external surface is chemically and genetically modifiable which can serve as attachment site for tumor specific targeting peptides or moieties. Recent studies, further establishes ferritin as a multifunctional nanocarrier for targeted cancer diagnosis and therapy. Moreover, the biological origin of these protein cages makes it a biocompatible nanocarrier that stabilizes and protects the enclosed particles from the external environment without provoking any toxic or immunogenic responses. This review mainly focuses on the application of ferritin nanocages as a novel non-viral nanocarrier for cancer therapy and it also highlights various biomedical applications of ferritin nanocages.
铁蛋白是一种普遍存在的铁储存蛋白，负责维持生物体内的铁平衡，从而保护细胞免受氧化损伤。铁蛋白蛋白笼已被用作在其核心内合成各种非天然金属纳米粒子的反应容器，也被用作各种应用的纳米载体。缺乏用于靶向递抗癌药物和成像剂的合适非病毒载体是癌症治疗和诊断中的主要问题。铁蛋白的 pH 依赖性可逆组装和拆卸特性使其成为封装各种抗癌药物和成像探针的合适候选物。铁蛋白的外表面可进行化学和遗传修饰，可作为肿瘤特异性靶向肽或部分的附着位点。最近的研究进一步将铁蛋白确立为用于靶向癌症诊断和治疗的多功能纳米载体。此外，这些蛋白笼的生物起源使其成为一种生物相容性的纳米载体，可稳定并保护封闭的颗粒免受外部环境的影响，而不会引起任何毒性或免疫原性反应。本文主要综述了铁蛋白纳米笼作为新型非病毒纳米载体在癌症治疗中的应用，并强调了铁蛋白纳米笼的各种生物医学应用。
