Building Nanostructures with Drugs

Wang Ma; Andrew G Cheetham; Honggang Cui

doi:10.1016/j.nantod.2015.11.003

Building Nanostructures with Drugs

Nano Today. 2016 Feb;11(1):13-30. doi: 10.1016/j.nantod.2015.11.003.

Authors

Wang Ma¹, Andrew G Cheetham², Honggang Cui³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, 1 Jianshe Eastern Road, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, China.
² Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Institute for NanoBioTechnology, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
³ Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, 1 Jianshe Eastern Road, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, China; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Institute for NanoBioTechnology, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Department of Oncology and Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA; Center for Nanomedicine, The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 400 North Broadway, Baltimore, Maryland 21231, USA.

Abstract

The convergence of nanoscience and drug delivery has prompted the formation of the field of nanomedicine, one that exploits the novel physicochemical and biological properties of nanostructures for improved medical treatments and reduced side effects. Until recently, this nanostructure-mediated strategy considered the drug to be solely a biologically active compound to be delivered, and its potential as a molecular building unit remained largely unexplored. A growing trend within nanomedicine has been the use of drug molecules to build well-defined nanostructures of various sizes and shapes. This strategy allows for the creation of self-delivering supramolecular nanomedicines containing a high and fixed drug content. Through rational design of the number and type of the drug incorporated, the resulting nanostructures can be tailored to assume various morphologies (e.g. nanospheres, rods, nanofibers, or nanotubes) for a particular mode of administration such as systemic, topical, and local delivery. This review covers the recent advances in this rapidly developing field, with the aim of providing an in-depth evaluation of the exciting opportunities that this new field could create to improve the current clinical practice of nanomedicine.

Abstract

Grants and funding