title: Apoferritin applications in nanomedicine.
abstract: Nanomedicine as a continuously evolving discipline is still looking for a structure with perfect properties that is usable as a multifunctional transporter. Great potential is attributed to synthetic materials such as fullerenes, porous hollow silica nanoparticles and single-wall nanotubes, among others. However, materials that are natural to the human body are more acceptable by the organism, and thus become an attractive approach in this field of research. Ferritins are proteins that naturally occur in most living organisms throughout evolution and may be a possible transporter choice. Numerous applications have demonstrated the possibilities of iron-free ferritins, called apoferritins, serving as platforms for various nanomedical purposes This article summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of these proteins and discusses their practical applications and future perspectives.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Faculty of Agronomy, Mendel University in Brno, Zemedelska 1, CZ-613 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Zbynek
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Heger
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Skalickova
authors.forename: Ondrej
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Zitka
authors.forename: Vojtech
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Adam
authors.forename: Rene
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kizek
mesh_terms: D001052:Apoferritins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D004337:Drug Carriers; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006801:Humans; D050997:Nanomedicine; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D004337:Drug Carriers; D001052:Apoferritins
keywords: horse spleen ferritin; magnetic resonance imaging; nanoscale; nanotrasporter; photodynamic therapy; self-assembly; therapeutic agents