Receptor-targeted drug delivery has been extensively explored for active targeting. However, the scarce clinical applications of such delivery systems highlight the implicit hurdles in development of such systems. These hurdles begin with lack of knowledge of differential expression of receptors, their accessibility and identification of newer receptors. Similarly, ligand-specific challenges range from proper choice of ligand and conjugation chemistry, to release of drug/delivery system from ligand. Finally, nanocarrier systems, which offer improved loading, biocompatibility and reduced premature degradation, also face multiple challenges. This review focuses on understanding these challenges, and means to overcome such challenges to develop efficient, targeted drug-delivery systems.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.