Biomimetic and Biologically Originated Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery Applications: a brief overview and update

Abstract

Biomimetic and biologically originating nanoparticles are an exciting new form of drug delivery system. Examples of biologically originating nanoparticles include exosomes and other extracellular vesicles, lipoproteins, ferritins, and virus-like nanoparticles. These nanoparticles can range anywhere from 5 nm up to 1000 nm and can come in different configurations depending on the nature of the nanoparticle. Various types of drugs can be loaded into these nanoparticles including hydrophobic, hydrophilic, small molecule, and nucleic acid drugs. Specific loading techniques have been developed for each nanoparticle specie. These naturally occurring nanoparticles all undergo a similar processing process, in which they are collected, purified, and functionalized for use as drug delivery systems. The scale and relative availability within our own bodies presents a significant difficulty to using biological nanoparticles for commercial applications. Using recombinant nanoparticles, produced by bacterium and other microorganisms, is a viable alternative to human derived nanoparticles, but does require more processing to become functional. Although there are many advantages to using biologically originating nanoparticles for drug delivery, such as high target specificity, great biocompatibility, and biodegradability, they are limited by their stability, scalability, and safety as they are largely unstudied compared to current drug delivery models. Further work must be done to fully characterize and fully realize the potential of these nanoparticles.