Nanomaterials: Versatile Drug Carriers
for Nanomedicine
Ashwini S. Shinde, Pallavi S. Shinde, and Tuhin S. Santra
Abstract Certain medicines and therapies have emerged for the treatment of
different ailments. But in many cases, they have poor solubility, lower bioavailability,
inability to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and drug resistance. It becomes
essential to establish standard treatment systems for overcoming such challenges.
In this connection, the nanomaterial application in medicine and pharmaceuticals
has rapidly gained interest with revolutionary prospects. The idea of nano-carriers
first observed in a biological system consisting of nanoparticles is committed to
locomotory function and protein cargos like importin, exportin. This observation
led to the development of biomimetic nanomaterials for drug delivery. The synthesized nanomaterials exhibit useful properties such as large surface area, maximum
bioavailability, reduced toxicity, high specificity along with enhanced permeability
and retention (EPR) effect. These properties contribute to enhancing the efficacy of
drugs having short half-lives, monitoring drugs for sustained release, enhancing the
rate of dissolution of drugs, and reducing required dosage volume. Thus, increased
therapeutic action and fewer side effects are to improve the quality of human life.
Currently, many nano-carriers such as niosomes, dendrimers, fullerene, polymerbased nanoparticles, micelle, liposomes, hydrogels, metallic, mesoporous silica,
quantum dots, etc. show potential for better drug delivery systems. These help in
carrying entities like drug molecules, DNA/RNA, proteins, viruses, cell receptor
sites, lipid bilayers, and variable antibody region for drug delivery in therapeutics.
Such nano-therapeutics and diagnostics will unfold the secrets of human longevity
and help reduce human illness, including cardiovascular disease, genetic disorder,
immunodeficiency, cancer, and even viral infections. This chapter highlights recent
advancements and applications of nano-carriers for drug delivery in medicine, especially wound healing therapeutics. It also discusses different approaches to enhance
drug cargo capacity, improve cell delivery efficiency, to avoid host immune systems,
and to achieve specific cell targeting.
A. S. Shinde · P. S. Shinde · T. S. Santra (B)
Department of Engineering Design, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036,
Tamil Nadu, India
e-mail: tuhin@iitm.ac.in
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
T. S. Santra and L. Mohan (eds.), Nanomaterials and Their Biomedical Applications,
Springer Series in Biomaterials Science and Engineering 16,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6252-9_10
253
for Nanomedicine
Ashwini S. Shinde, Pallavi S. Shinde, and Tuhin S. Santra
Abstract Certain medicines and therapies have emerged for the treatment of
different ailments. But in many cases, they have poor solubility, lower bioavailability,
inability to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and drug resistance. It becomes
essential to establish standard treatment systems for overcoming such challenges.
In this connection, the nanomaterial application in medicine and pharmaceuticals
has rapidly gained interest with revolutionary prospects. The idea of nano-carriers
first observed in a biological system consisting of nanoparticles is committed to
locomotory function and protein cargos like importin, exportin. This observation
led to the development of biomimetic nanomaterials for drug delivery. The synthesized nanomaterials exhibit useful properties such as large surface area, maximum
bioavailability, reduced toxicity, high specificity along with enhanced permeability
and retention (EPR) effect. These properties contribute to enhancing the efficacy of
drugs having short half-lives, monitoring drugs for sustained release, enhancing the
rate of dissolution of drugs, and reducing required dosage volume. Thus, increased
therapeutic action and fewer side effects are to improve the quality of human life.
Currently, many nano-carriers such as niosomes, dendrimers, fullerene, polymerbased nanoparticles, micelle, liposomes, hydrogels, metallic, mesoporous silica,
quantum dots, etc. show potential for better drug delivery systems. These help in
carrying entities like drug molecules, DNA/RNA, proteins, viruses, cell receptor
sites, lipid bilayers, and variable antibody region for drug delivery in therapeutics.
Such nano-therapeutics and diagnostics will unfold the secrets of human longevity
and help reduce human illness, including cardiovascular disease, genetic disorder,
immunodeficiency, cancer, and even viral infections. This chapter highlights recent
advancements and applications of nano-carriers for drug delivery in medicine, especially wound healing therapeutics. It also discusses different approaches to enhance
drug cargo capacity, improve cell delivery efficiency, to avoid host immune systems,
and to achieve specific cell targeting.
A. S. Shinde · P. S. Shinde · T. S. Santra (B)
Department of Engineering Design, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036,
Tamil Nadu, India
e-mail: tuhin@iitm.ac.in
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
T. S. Santra and L. Mohan (eds.), Nanomaterials and Their Biomedical Applications,
Springer Series in Biomaterials Science and Engineering 16,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6252-9_10
253