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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Jul 13.
Published in final edited form as: Annu Rev Biomed Eng. 2021 Mar 31;23:225–248. doi: 10.1146/annurev-bioeng-121219-024239

Table 1.

Features of red blood cells and nanocarriers for drug delivery systems utilizing red blood cell hitchhiking

Features RBC Nanocarriers
Nature Natural cell Artificial multimolecular assemblies
Size 6 micron 20–200nm
Homogeneity Exceptionally high Low
Diversity None High
Circulation time Weeks to months Minutes to hours
Degradation pathway Phagocytosis and hemolysis Phagocytosis and hydrolysis
Degradation rate Minutes Hours to weeks
Destination in body Spleen Liver
Affinity None Optional
Function in HH Delivery NC to vasculature of interest Delivery of drugs within vasculature of interest