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Enzyme-responsive smart nanocarriers for targeted chemotherapy: an overview

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Abstract

Nanocarriers play pivotal roles in the field of biomedical applications, particularly in anticancer therapy. One of the prominent strategies for the transport of anticancer drugs with site-specific release and improved therapeutic efficacy is the use of an enzyme-responsive drug delivery system. There is an emerging class of cancer therapeutics engineered to control the release of a drug via enzymatic degradation. Enzymes, being an essential component of bio-nanotechnology toolbox, hold exceptional biorecognition abilities as well as outstanding catalytic properties. Often, abnormal enzyme expression observed in cancer offers many opportunities in designing nanocarriers modified with enzyme-labile linkage. Through altered physical or chemical characteristics of these nanocarriers or cleavage of the drug in response to the bio-action of enzyme, an on-demand drug release can be obtained. In this review, several classes of enzymes performing critical roles in cancer such as hydrolases, lipases, and oxidoreductases are summarized. Insights on various approaches that interfere with the mechanism of these enzymes have also been included. Finally, various smart nanocarriers such as mesoporous silica nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles, carbon-nanotubes, micelles, liposomes, and dendrimers serving as excellent platforms for enzyme-responsive formulations have been discussed.

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  1. Shobhaben Pratapbhai Patel School of Pharmacy & Technology Management, SVKMs NMIMS, V.L. Mehta Road, Vile Parle (W), Mumbai, Maharashtra, 400056, India

    Hiral Kapalatiya, Yamini Madav, Varunesh Sanjay Tambe & Sarika Wairkar

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  1. Hiral Kapalatiya
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The concept was and designed by SW. HK performed the literature survey and collection. HK and YM drafted the manuscript. VT revised the manuscript. SW reviewed and edited the manuscript and then gave final approval of the version to be published.

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Correspondence to Sarika Wairkar.

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Kapalatiya, H., Madav, Y., Tambe, V. et al. Enzyme-responsive smart nanocarriers for targeted chemotherapy: an overview. Drug Deliv. and Transl. Res. 12, 1293–1305 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13346-021-01020-6

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