Complex biological barriers are major obstacles for preventing and treating disease. Nanocarriers are designed to overcome such obstacles by enhancing drug delivery through physiochemical barriers and improving therapeutic indices. This review critically examines both biological barriers and nanocarrier payloads for a variety of drug delivery applications. A spectrum of nanocarriers is discussed that have been successfully developed for improving tissue penetration for preventing or treating a range of infectious, inflammatory, and degenerative diseases.
Keywords: Biological barriers; Blood–brain barrier; Drug delivery; Nanoparticle; Tumor microenvironment; Vector-borne disease.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.