Modular biomimetic drug delivery systems

New treatments which may involve poorly soluble drugs, easy biodegradable molecules and drugs endowed with systemic toxicity need highly specific delivery, i.e. targeting. Nanocarriers are small enough drug delivery devices which can serve this purpose. Their design must meet with the constraints of the in vivo environments. Sophisticated strategies are required to deliver intact drugs into the cytoplasm of the targeted cells. Some bacteria and viruses have acquired such capabilities. Mimicking these pathogenic invaders for therapeutic purposes has been developed through biomimetic strategies. This paper attempts to review the integration of biomimetic strategies into domains of application of smart drug nanocarriers. Improving performance of vaccines by biomimetic antigen-presenting devices, precision of drug delivery by modulating drug biodistribution through modification of the surface of nanocarriers and release to the target site by integrating stimuli responding polymers are presented.