Multifunctional Protein-Based Nanoparticles for Cancer Theranosis

Selective delivery of therapeutic and/or diagnostic (theranostic) agents to diseased sites represents a major challenge to improve the outcome of current therapy and our ability to detect cancer cells at early stages or in the spread sites. A promising route to reach this goal is the design and engineering of functionalized nanoparticle (NP)-based carriers for targeted delivery of drug or diagnostic agents. Protein-based nanocarriers are attracting growing interest due to their exceptional characteristics, namely biodegradability, solubility, functionalization versatility and extraordinary binding capacity of various drugs. We highlight the use of these cage-shaped protein-based materials, with special emphasis on ferritin, as smart building blocks for the development of multifunctional NPs for cancer