Table 3.

Different types of nanocarriers, their advantages and limitations, targeting strategies are briefly discussed in the following tabular format

Nanocarrier	Typical materials	Targeting mechanism	Advantages	Limitations	References
Lipid vesicles	Phospholipids, Cholesterol	Pegylation, Antibodies, pH-sensitive lipids	High biocompatibility, biodegradable carry drugs	Poor encapsulation of hydrophobic drugs, physical instability and high production costs	[66]
Polymer NPs	PEG, Chitosan	Folic acid, peptides, aptamers, pH-responsive	High stability, control release, versatile surface modification	Potential toxicity of non-biodegradable polymers	[67]
Polymer Micelles	Au, FeO, Mesoporous Silica	Antibodies, and aptamers	Excellent for poorly soluble hydrophobic drugs, low CMC confirms stability in blood	Break apart if diluted below CMC in blood, limited drug loading capacity	[68]
Solid Lipid NPs	Lipid polymer, Inorganic-polymer	Stimuli-responsive ligand surface modification	High lipophilic drug loading capability and avoids organic solvents stability	Limited drugs loading capacity, risk of drug leakage during storage due to change the structural moiety	[64]
Dendrimers	Polylysine, PMMA	Surface-modified targeting ligands, peptides	Well-developed 3D structure, high surface functionality, size control	High production cost, and potential for toxicity	[71]
Gold NPs	Amphiphilic block and random copolymers	Target-specific ligands, pH-sensitive, tumor microenvironment	Excellent optical properties for imaging therapy, high stability	Generally poor drug loading capacity, potential long-term cytotoxicity	[95]
Magnetic NPs	Natural cell-derived vesicles	Integrins surface receptors, cell-specific modification	External magnetic field used for MRI contrast and medicinal therapy	Potential toxicity tendency requires for protective coating	[96]
Cholic acid Micelles	Amphiphilic block copolymers	Target-specific ligands, pH-sensitive, Tumor microenvironment	Hydrophobic drug delivery, Cancer therapy	High production cost, and potential for toxicity	[14]
Exosomes	Natural cell-derived vesicles	Surface receptors modification	Targeted drug delivery,	Break apart at below CMC in blood, and limited drug loading capacity	[97]