ABSTRACT
Nanomedicine is an interesting idea, which is a culmination of concepts associated with the noncovalent/covalent interaction between organic/inorganic materials followed by their self-assembly to form nanoparticles. Various noncovalent interactions (hydrogen bond, Van der Waals interaction, polar interactions and others) between biomaterials followed by unique self-assembling properties of various materials offer several nanoconstructs such as liposomes, polysaccharide nanoparticles (NPs), protein NPs, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)/ribonucleic acid (RNA) Origamis that are being explored extensively for developing smart nanomedicines. Polymeric nanotherapies that are explored as a viable generic option for the delivery of anticancer molecules that target important cancer proteins (e.g., transcription factors, kinases, chaperones)/DNA/RNA work by passive cancer targeting approach. Unlike antibodies and folic acids, the use of aptamer-conjugated NPs is relatively new. They were initially developed for separation and detection of cancer cells. However, this concept was later adapted to develop active cancer-targeted NPs (made from synthetic and natural polymers) for therapeutic purposes.
