Nanotechnology refers to research and technology development at the atomic, molecular, and macromolecular scale, leading to the controlled manipulation and study of structures and devices with length scales in the 1- to 100-nanometers range. The possibility to manipulate the physical, chemical, and biological properties of these particles affords researchers the capability to rationally design and use nanoparticles for drug delivery, as image contrast agents, and for diagnostic purposes.To achieve efficient drug delivery it is important to understand the interactions of nanomaterials with the biological environment, targeting cell-surface receptors, drug release, multiple drug administration, stability of therapeutic agents and molecular mechanisms of cell signalling involved in pathobiology of the disease under consideration.Anti-cancer drugs including paclitaxel, doxorubicin, 5-fluorouracil and dexamethasone have been successfully formulated using nanotecnology. Quantom dots, chitosan, nanoparticles have also been used for in vitro RNAi delivery and and nasal delivery of vaccines. Anti-cancer drugs such as loperamide and doxorubicin bound to nanomaterials have been shown to cross the intact blood-brain barrier and released at therapeutic concentrations in the brain. The use of nanomaterials including peptide-based nanotubes to target the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor and cell adhesion molecules like integrins, cadherins and selectins, is a new approach to control disease progression. Nanotechnology is of great use for medical diagnosis and various nanoparticles have exhibited tremendous potential for detecting disease markers, pre-cancerous cells, fragment of viruses and other indicators. Recent advances in the field have aimed towards multifunctionalization of nanoparticles to produce therapeutic systems that combine targeted drug therapy with diagnostics, for a more real-time therapeutic approach.
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