Engineering antiphagocytic biomimetic drug carriers

Drug-delivery carriers have the potential to not only treat but also diagnose many diseases; however, they still lack the complexity of natural-particulate systems. Cell-based therapies using tumor-targeting T cells and tumor-homing mesenchymal stem cells have given researchers a means to exploit the characteristics exhibited by innate-biological entities. Similarly, immune evasion by pathogens has inspired the development of natural polymers to cloak drug carriers. The 'marker-of-self' CD47 protein, which is found ubiquitously on mammalian cell surfaces, has been used for evading phagocyte clearance of drug carriers. This review will focus on the recent progress of drug carriers co-opting the tricks that cells in nature use to hide safely under the radar of the body's innate immune system.