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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Dec 1.
Published in final edited form as: Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2021 Oct 5;179:113994. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2021.113994

Figure 3. Different types of pharmaco- and bioactive carrier systems.

Figure 3

(A) Biomaterials such as peptides can be used as active carrier materials to transport cargo. In this example, both an RNA binding motif peptide and scFv protein are used to deliver miRNA [65]. This CXCR4-targeting therapeutic was able to modulate immune function and inhibit tumor growth simultaneously. (B) Small molecule drugs can be formed into scaffolds to deliver additional cargo to enhance the system’s efficacy. PTX nanorods were constructed into a scaffold able to carry caspase three enzymes, and an HA coating was added for additional function [66]. (C) bisMTX can be used as an active scaffold formed into a ring structure that can carry fusion scFv-DHFR peptides while being a chemotherapeutic drug [63]. (D) Lastly, nucleic acids can be formed into complex architectures able to load various cargo. siRNA was engineered into nanoparticles able to carry DOX molecules to initiate ICD [70]. (E) RNA can be conjugated to PTX molecules to form a cleavable nanoparticle. There is potential for the RNA carrier to be therapeutic depending on the RNA sequence used [69].