Biomimetic Nanocarriers for Cancer Target Therapy

Nanotechnology oers innovative tools for the design of biomimetic nanocarriers for
targeted cancer therapy. These nano-systems present several advantages such as cargo's protection
and modulation of its release, inclusion of stimuli-responsive elements, and enhanced tumoral
accumulation. All together, these nano-systems suer low therapeutic ecacy in vivo because
organisms can recognize and remove foreign nanomaterials. To overcome this important issue,
dierent modifications on nanoparticle surfaces were exploited in order to reach the desired therapeutic
ecacy eliciting, also, the response of immune system against cancer cells. For this reason, more
recently, a new strategy involving cell membrane-covered nanoparticles for biomedical application
has been attracting increasing attention. Membranes from red blood cells, platelets, leukocytes, tumor,
and stem cells, have been exploited as biomimetic coatings of nanoparticles for evading clearance or
stimulated immune system by maintaining in the same way their targeting capability. In this review,
the use of dierent cell sources as coating of biomimetic nanocarriers for cancer therapy is discussed.