title: Design and Fabrication of Magnetically Responsive Nanocarriers for Drug Delivery.
abstract: Magnetically-assisted delivery of therapeutic agents to the site of interest, which is referred to as magnetic drug targeting, has proven to be a promising strategy in a number of studies. One of the key advantages over other targeting strategies is the possibility to control remotely the distribution and accumulation of the nanocarriers after parenteral administration. However, preparation of effective and robust magnetically responsive nanocarriers based on superparamagnetic iron oxide nanocrystals (SPIONs) still represents a great scientific challenge, since spatial guidance of individual SPIONs is ineffective despite the presence of high magnetic field gradient. A strategy to overcome this issue is the clustering of SPIONs to achieve sufficient magnetic responsiveness. In this mini-review, we address current and future strategies for the design and fabrication of magnetically responsive nanocarriers based on SPIONs for magnetically-targeted drug delivery, including the underlying physical requirements, the possibility of drug loading, and the control of drug release at the targeted site.
authors.affiliation: Department for Materials Synthesis, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Giorgieri 1, 34127 Trieste, Italy; Nanos SCI, (Nanos Scientificae d.o.o.), Teslova 30, 1000 Ljubljana. Slovakia.
authors.forename: Slavko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kralj
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Askerceva cesta 7, 1000 Ljubljana. Slovenia.
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Potrc
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Askerceva cesta 7, 1000 Ljubljana. Slovenia.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kocbek
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Giorgieri 1, 34127 Trieste. Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marchesan
authors.affiliation: Department for Materials Synthesis, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana. Slovenia.
authors.forename: Darko
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Makovec
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations / Q000737:chemistry*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008081:Liposomes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008280:Magnetics / Q000379:methods*; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D003102:Colloids; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D008081:Liposomes; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; D011108:Polymers; D012822:Silicon Dioxide
keywords: Magnetic nanoparticles; SPION
  clusters; iron oxide nanocrystals; magnetic drug delivery; magnetic nanocarriers; magnetic targeting; magnetically-assisted delivery.; nanoparticle clusters