Introduction: Nanocarriers are considered to be one of the most innovative drug delivery systems, owing to their high potential in drug protection, delivery and targeting to the diseased site. Unfortunately, their applicability is hampered mainly by their uptake, due to macrophagic recognition and lack of specificity, if not properly engineered.
Areas covered: Sialic acid (SA) and its derivatives have recently been studied in order to govern their stealthness as carriers and their effectiveness as targeting moieties. In this review, the most outstanding research (in vitro and in vivo) dealing with the use of SA or its derivatives to modify the surface carriers, in order to achieve targeted or stealth nanosystems, is summarized. Moreover, the application of SA or its derivatives as modifiers in cancer targeting and therapy, and in recognition purposes, is considered.
Expert opinion: The application of SA-based strategies for nanocarrier engineering represents one of the most stimulating challenges in drug delivery and drug targeting. Both in vivo and in vitro results on stealth or targeted nanocarriers, modified with different kinds of SA or SA derivative, have highlighted the great potential of this approach. These studies have drawn attention to both the advantages (stealth properties, targeting ability, cancer inhibition, viral and inflammation recognition, brain targeting) and the possible disadvantages (i.e., presence of possible multi-target side effect outputs) of this strategy, and overall suggests that further investigations on this strategy are required.