Nanocarriers in Drug and Gene Delivery

Abstract

Nanotechnology has been vastly explored as a delivery carrier for bioactives. Particles in nanorange show entirely different physical and chemical properties. The unique properties of nanoparticles (NPs) owing to their small size and tunable surface properties make them highly attractive for biomedical applications. NPs have made deep inroad as drug delivery carrier and have embraced the future of effective and efficient delivery of pharmaceuticals. As a drug or gene delivery carrier, NPs improve their pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic profile and simultaneously reduce the existing toxic effects. The most fascinating feature of NPs is to improve the stability of liable drugs in vitro and in vivo. Several pharmaceuticals especially genetic materials are prone to be degraded in variable physiological conditions before reaching to the target site. Without proper drug delivery vehicle, they can also impart off-target toxicity and lesser therapeutic efficacy. Nanocarriers represent a number of opportunities to deliver bioactives specifically to the target site by using targeting ligands, surface modification, stimuli responsiveness, intracellular trafficking, and sustained release. To date, a number of nanoparticulate systems based on polymers, lipids, proteins, and inorganic materials have been established for delivery application. Since the last two decades, a tremendous progress has been made in the design and development of more efficient nanoplatforms. NPs have revolutionized the area of drug/gene delivery, and rapid growth in the design of novel nanoplatforms holds great promise in disease therapies.