No abstract

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) have been known for many decades as catalyst and ceramic precursors, traps for anionic pollutants, catalysts and additives for polymers, but their successful synthesis on the nanometer scale a few years ago opened up a whole new field for their application in nanomedicine. The delivery of drugs and other therapeutic/bioactive molecules (e.g., peptides, proteins, nucleic acids) to mammalian cells is an area of research that is of tremendous importance to medicine and provides manifold applications for any new developments in the area of nanotechnology. Among the many different nanoparticles that have been shown to facilitate gene and/or drug delivery, LDH nanoparticles have attracted particular attention owing to their many desirable properties. This review aims to report recent progress in gene and drug delivery using LDH nanoparticles. It summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of using LDH nanoparticles as carriers for nucleic acids and drugs against the general background of bottlenecks that are encountered by cellular delivery systems. It describes further the models that have been proposed for the internalization of LDH nanoparticles into cells so far and discusses the intracellular fate of the particles and their cargo. The authors offer some remarks on how this field of research will progress in the near future and which challenges need to be overcome before LDH nanoparticles can be used in a clinical setting.

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encompasses an array of noncovalent interactions that can yield highly complex and ordered structures. As a result of their wide availability and negligible toxicity cyclodextrins (CDs) are one of the most widely used hosts in the fi eld of inclusion chemistry. Usually composed of six to eight D -glucose units, CDs are capable of forming inclusion complexes with various guest moieties and polymeric chains. This capability is attributed to their ether-like oxygen and their hydrocarbon frame creating a hydrophobic cavity wherein appropriately sized molecules and macromolecules can be immobilized via tight, yet reversible associations. Using CD-based inclusion chemistry as a platform, a diverse range of polymeric networks with applications in the life sciences, biotechnology, and materials science can be achieved. This review highlights the versatility of CDbased inclusion chemistry, and how specifi city and control can be imparted when designing higher-order structures, such as those found in biological systems. A particularly interesting group of polymeric structures that is achievable via CD-based inclusion chemistry is that of CD-based The application of cyclodextrin (CD)-based host-guest interactions towards the fabrication of functional supramolecular assemblies and hydrogels is of particular interest in the fi eld of biomedicine. However, as of late they have found new applications as advanced functional materials (e.g., actuators and self-healing materials), which have renewed interest across a wide range of fi elds. Advanced supramolecular materials synthesized using this noncovalent interaction, exhibit specifi city and reversibility, which can be used to impart reversible cross-linking, specifi c binding sites, and functionality. In this review, various functional CD-based supramolecular assemblies and hydrogels will be outlined with the focus on recent advances. In addition, an outlook will be provided on the direction of this rapidly developing fi eld.