Inorganic nanosystems for therapeutic delivery: Status and prospects
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Accepted 22 August 2012
Available online 4 September 2012
Keywords:
Inorganic nanomaterials
Drug delivery
Upconversion
Theragnostic
Multifunctional
Imaging agent
Inorganic nanomaterials have an array of structural and physical properties that can be used in therapeutic delivery
systems. The sizes, shapes, and surfaces of inorganic nanomaterials can be tailored to produce distinct interactions
with biological systems both in vitro and in vivo. Nanoparticle cores can likewise be engineered to possess unique
opticophysical properties, including upconversion, size-dependent absorbance/emission as well as magnetic properties
such as superparamagnetism. These properties make inorganic nanomaterials as useful imaging agents for
noninvasive diagnostics and remotely activated theragnostics. Taken together, these unique properties of inorganic
nanomaterials make them promising delivery systems.