title: Mitochondria targeting nano agents in cancer therapeutics.
abstract: Mitochondria have emerged as noteworthy therapeutic targets as their physiological functions are often altered in pathological conditions such as cancer. The electronic databases of MEDLINE, EMBASE and PubMed were searched for recent studies reporting the importance of mitochondria targeting nanoagents in cancer therapeutics. The concluding remarks of the above papers mostly confirmed the growing potential of these novel nanoagents in the area of anticancer research. Furthermore, numerous studies demonstrated the immense potential of nanocarriers in delivering mitochondria-acting compounds to their target site. Among the assemblage of nanomaterials, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are becoming more prominent for drug delivery due to favorable attributes including their unique shape, which promotes cellular uptake, and large aspect ratio that facilitates conjugation of bioactive molecules on their surface. The present review focused on the current view of variable options available in mitochondria-targeting anticancer therapeutics. It may be concluded that improvements are essential for its establishment as a gold standard therapeutic option especially in the clinical setting.
authors.affiliation: Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Information Institute, Nanjing, Jiangsu 221009, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Ying
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Xuzhou Central Hospital, The Affiliated Xuzhou Hospital of Medical College of Southeast University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu 221009, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Pei-Ying
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: cancer; mitochondria; nanomedicine