Engineering protein nanocages as carriers for biomedical applications

Bhaskar, Sathyamoorthy; Lim, Sierin

The properties of carriers for delivery of drugs, contrast agents or other active molecules should be considered depending on the target and specific therapeutic index to be achieved. Certain essential factors include drug efficacy, the target physiological environment, stability, safety, loading capacity and drug release kinetics of the carrier. 40 Carriers measuring 25-50 nm favor receptor-mediated endocytosis and target cell membrane encapsulation. 8 An advantage of nanocagebased carriers is the ability to decorate these nanocarriers with multiple functional elements precisely and uniformly. 8 These functional elements aid the carriers because of their ability to modulate the immune response, their penetration efficiency, and their targeting capability for delivery of active molecules. Most importantly, the carrier should be non-toxic for clinical applications. 40 Three main properties underlying the design of a drug carrier are discussed in the following subsections.