Seidu Theodora Amanda, Kutoka Perpetua Takunda, Asante Dorothy Owusu, Farooq Muhammad Asim, Alolga Raphael N, Bo Wang
Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China.
School of Basic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China.
Pharmaceutics. 2022 May 23;14(5):1113. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14051113.
Research into the application of nanocarriers in the delivery of cancer-fighting drugs has been a promising research area for decades. On the other hand, their cytotoxic effects on cells, low uptake efficiency, and therapeutic resistance have limited their therapeutic use. However, the urgency of pressing healthcare needs has resulted in the functionalization of nanoparticles' (NPs) physicochemical properties to improve clinical outcomes of new, old, and repurposed drugs. This article reviews recent research on methods for targeting functionalized nanoparticles to the tumor microenvironment (TME). Additionally, the use of relevant engineering techniques for surface functionalization of nanocarriers (liposomes, dendrimers, and mesoporous silica) and their critical roles in overcoming the current limitations in cancer therapy-targeting ligands used for targeted delivery, stimuli strategies, and multifunctional nanoparticles-were all reviewed. The limitations and future perspectives of functionalized nanoparticles were also finally discussed. Using relevant keywords, published scientific literature from all credible sources was retrieved. A quick search of the literature yielded almost 400 publications. The subject matter of this review was addressed adequately using an inclusion/exclusion criterion. The content of this review provides a reasonable basis for further studies to fully exploit the potential of these nanoparticles in cancer therapy.
几十年来，纳米载体在抗癌药物递送中的应用研究一直是一个很有前景的研究领域。另一方面，它们对细胞的细胞毒性作用、低摄取效率和治疗抗性限制了它们的治疗用途。然而，紧迫的医疗需求促使人们对纳米颗粒（NPs）的物理化学性质进行功能化，以改善新的、旧的和重新利用的药物的临床疗效。本文综述了将功能化纳米颗粒靶向肿瘤微环境（TME）的方法的最新研究。此外，还综述了用于纳米载体（脂质体、树枝状大分子和介孔二氧化硅）表面功能化的相关工程技术，以及它们在克服癌症治疗当前局限性方面的关键作用，包括用于靶向递送的靶向配体、刺激策略和多功能纳米颗粒。最后还讨论了功能化纳米颗粒的局限性和未来展望。使用相关关键词，从所有可靠来源检索已发表的科学文献。快速检索文献得到了近400篇出版物。本综述的主题通过纳入/排除标准得到了充分探讨。本综述的内容为进一步研究充分发挥这些纳米颗粒在癌症治疗中的潜力提供了合理依据。
