Development of nanomaterials for bone-targeted drug delivery

• Published in: Drug discovery today 2017-09, Vol.22 (9), p.1336-1350
• Main Authors: Cheng, Hao, Chawla, Aditya, Yang, Yafeng, Li, Yuxiao, Zhang, Jin, Jang, Hae Lin, Khademhosseini, Ali
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Bone and Bones - metabolism; Drug Delivery Systems; Humans; Nanostructures - administration & dosage
• ISSN: 1359-6446; 1878-5832
• DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2017.04.021

•The most representative nanomaterials for bone drug delivery are summarized.•Nanomaterials can target bone by oral, implant, injectable, and transdermal route.•Nanodelivery systems can target bone cells and subcellular organelles.•Outlooks and hurdles for clinical translation of nanodelivery systems are discussed. Bone is one of the major organs of the human body; it supports and protects other organs, produces blood cells, stores minerals, and regulates hormones. Therefore, disorders in bone can cause serious morbidity, complications, or mortality of patients. However, despite the significant occurrence of bone diseases, such as osteoarthritis (OA), osteoporosis (OP), non-union bone defects, bone cancer, and myeloma-related bone disease, their effective treatments remain a challenge. In this review, we highlight recent progress in the development of nanotechnology-based drug delivery for bone treatment, based on its improved delivery efficiency and safety. We summarize the most commonly used nanomaterials for bone drug delivery. We then discuss the targeting strategies of these nanomaterials to the diseased sites of bone tissue. We also highlight nanotechnology-based drug delivery to bone cells and subcellular organelles. We envision that nanotechnology-based drug delivery will serve as a powerful tool for developing treatments for currently incurable bone diseases.