Modern Advancement of Nanotechnology Over Conventional …
497
delivery vehicle by conjugating with drugs started with Poly-l-glutamic acid (PGA).
Several drugs that are used clinically have been conjugated with PGA and tested
in vitro and in vivo and showed to have better effects than its free drug counterparts
(Ekladious et al. 2019). Polymer micelle is gaining tremendous interest as nanocarrier
owing to their unique characteristics like increasing the solubilization of hydrophobic
drugs, protecting cargos from degradation by enzymes, and sustained release of
drugs. Temozolomide (TMZ) and anti-Bcl-2 siRNA were packed in a polymeric
micelle conjugated with folic acid to surpass the blood–brain barrier and efficiently
prevent growth in resistant glioma cells (Aziz et al. 2017).
The anticancer drugs are encapsulated in dendrimers (polymeric macromolecules)
or are functionalized on their surface. They reduce toxicities toward normal cells and
improve drug delivery and bioavailability and increase drug stability. In that regard,
CXCR4-targeted dendrimer has been developed for breast cancer therapy. Polyamine
amide dendrimer encapsulating doxorubicin and conjugated with the linear type of
FC131 showed enhanced cytotoxicity against cancer cell lines (Anitha et al. 2018).
For nanobiotechnological applications of drug delivery and tissue targeting, a variety
of viruses and bacteriophages have been developed. Viruses such as canine parvovirus
have a natural affinity for transferrin receptors present on various cancer cells. VLPs
are a promising alternative drug delivery nanoparticle derived from protein coats of
viral capsids typically lacking their natural genome and thus are noninfectious. They
can pack and deliver anticancer drugs, proteins, siRNA, and RNA aptamers, having
the potential to overcome the limitations of other nanomaterials. However, there are
still challenges like stability and avoiding phagocyte mediated clearance (Aljabali
2018).
4.2 Inorganic Nanoparticles
Currently, the majority of drug delivery systems are using inorganic nanomaterials
due to their meticulous control of shape and size, controlled surface chemistry,
tunable physicochemical properties that can be functionalized using a variety of
molecules. A large number of inorganic nanomaterials including metal and metal
oxide-based nanoparticles and carbon-based nanomaterials have been developed and
used in cancer treatment and management.
4.2.1 Metal-Based Nanomaterial
Metal-based antitumor drugs play a relevant role in antiblastic chemotherapy. To
target alternative mechanism of action, new metallodrugs that function in the biological systems were developed. The introduction of platinum-based metallodrugs
cisplatin has paved the way for anticancer therapeutics (de Menezes et al. 2019).
Although, long-time research has been done on copper compounds with the assumption that endogenous metals are less toxic and it can inhibit proteasome as well as
497
delivery vehicle by conjugating with drugs started with Poly-l-glutamic acid (PGA).
Several drugs that are used clinically have been conjugated with PGA and tested
in vitro and in vivo and showed to have better effects than its free drug counterparts
(Ekladious et al. 2019). Polymer micelle is gaining tremendous interest as nanocarrier
owing to their unique characteristics like increasing the solubilization of hydrophobic
drugs, protecting cargos from degradation by enzymes, and sustained release of
drugs. Temozolomide (TMZ) and anti-Bcl-2 siRNA were packed in a polymeric
micelle conjugated with folic acid to surpass the blood–brain barrier and efficiently
prevent growth in resistant glioma cells (Aziz et al. 2017).
The anticancer drugs are encapsulated in dendrimers (polymeric macromolecules)
or are functionalized on their surface. They reduce toxicities toward normal cells and
improve drug delivery and bioavailability and increase drug stability. In that regard,
CXCR4-targeted dendrimer has been developed for breast cancer therapy. Polyamine
amide dendrimer encapsulating doxorubicin and conjugated with the linear type of
FC131 showed enhanced cytotoxicity against cancer cell lines (Anitha et al. 2018).
For nanobiotechnological applications of drug delivery and tissue targeting, a variety
of viruses and bacteriophages have been developed. Viruses such as canine parvovirus
have a natural affinity for transferrin receptors present on various cancer cells. VLPs
are a promising alternative drug delivery nanoparticle derived from protein coats of
viral capsids typically lacking their natural genome and thus are noninfectious. They
can pack and deliver anticancer drugs, proteins, siRNA, and RNA aptamers, having
the potential to overcome the limitations of other nanomaterials. However, there are
still challenges like stability and avoiding phagocyte mediated clearance (Aljabali
2018).
4.2 Inorganic Nanoparticles
Currently, the majority of drug delivery systems are using inorganic nanomaterials
due to their meticulous control of shape and size, controlled surface chemistry,
tunable physicochemical properties that can be functionalized using a variety of
molecules. A large number of inorganic nanomaterials including metal and metal
oxide-based nanoparticles and carbon-based nanomaterials have been developed and
used in cancer treatment and management.
4.2.1 Metal-Based Nanomaterial
Metal-based antitumor drugs play a relevant role in antiblastic chemotherapy. To
target alternative mechanism of action, new metallodrugs that function in the biological systems were developed. The introduction of platinum-based metallodrugs
cisplatin has paved the way for anticancer therapeutics (de Menezes et al. 2019).
Although, long-time research has been done on copper compounds with the assumption that endogenous metals are less toxic and it can inhibit proteasome as well as