Table 3.

Summary of different nanoformulations designed using GPC3 as a targeting ligand.

Targeting Moiety	Nanocarrier	Cargo Carried by Nanocarrier	In Vitro and/or In Vivo Studies and Results
Peptides specific for GPC3 [97]	Lipid nanoparticles	Sorafenib	In vitro cytotoxicity, cellular uptake in Hep3B and SK-Hep1 cells, and in vivo targeting and antitumor studies in Hep3B xenografts showed that the effective aqueous solubility of sorafenib was improved with increased uptake in vivo
GPC3 mAb [227]	Iron oxide nanoparticles	N/A	In vitro cell uptake and MRI in HepG2 and HLF lines confirmed that only GPC3-expressing cells were specifically targeted using these NPs and may increase pre-treatment MR imaging capability for HCC visualization
GPC3 mAb [228]	Citrate-coated nanoparticles	Prussian blue	In vitro cellular uptake and targeted MR imaging in HepG2 cells confirmed mAb targeting cells via receptor-mediated endocytosis with excellent MR imaging contrast enhancement ability and biocompatibility