The Biological Applications of Inorganic Nanoparticle Drug Carriers

Inorganic nanoparticle drug carriers have potential applications in drug targeting, improving the release and bioavailability of drugs, and reducing the secondary effects of drugs. In recent years, a hot topic in the field of nanoparticle-based drug delivery research has been to develop inorganic nanoparticle drug carriers that are capable of concomitant detection, monitoring, and localized treatment of specific disease sites. Such an inorganic carrier system would have great potential to improve early detection for therapeutic interventions, thereby enhancing the possibility of curing diseases. This could be achievable because of the possibility to detect abnormal cells before the appearance of diseased tissues or tumors. In this paper, we review the characteristics and advantages of various inorganic nanoparticle drug carriers, such as quantum dots (QDs), nanoscale magnetic particles, and nanoscale gold and silica, and discuss a selection of recent examples from this broad field.