Title:Advances on Magnetic Nanocarriers Based on Natural Polymers
Volume: 22
Issue: 22
Author(s): Rita Muzzalupo and Lorena Tavano
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Nanocarriers, stimuli-responsivity, natural polymers, magnetic nanoparticles.
Abstract: The use of nanodevices to transport active compounds like small-molecular drugs, peptides, or genes
found an increased attention throughout the different fields of natural sciences. Moreover, recent research trends
are focused on the employment of smart nanocarriers able to react on certain internal or external applied stimuli, in
order to achieve temporal and site-specific drugs/gene release. In contrast to traditional biodegradable nanocarriers
that slowly release drugs inside the cells, these smart nanosystems are able to quickly release or even dump drugs
in response to a specific biological signal in the target cancer cells such lower pH, high redox potential or over expression
of enzymes or to external stimuli such as temperature, light, ultrasounds and magnetic field. This review
gives a brief overview about some types of stimuli-responsive nanocarriers, with the main focus on magnetic fieldresponsive
devices obtained from natural polymers. The concept of magnetic field-sensitive nanocarriers, their advantages
and disadvantages, the methods of preparation and applications in various fields of drug delivery will be explored, giving an exhaustive
collection of the findings of recent investigations.