Title:Metal-Organic Framework in Pharmaceutical Drug Delivery
Volume: 23
Issue: 13
Author(s): Sudipto Kundu, Akey Krishna Swaroop and Jubie Selvaraj*
Affiliation:
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research Ooty, Nilgiris, Tamilnadu, India
Keywords:
Metal organic framework, Drug delivery system, Photodynamic treatment, Antitumor agents, Biosensing, Biomedical application.
Abstract: Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous, crystalline materials made up of organic
ligands and metal ions/metal clusters linked by coordinative bonds. This large family is becoming
increasingly popular for drug delivery due to their tuneable porosity, chemical composition, size
and shape, and ease of surface functionalization. There has been a growing interest over the last
decades in the design of engineered MOFs with controlled sizes for a variety of biomedical applications.
Starting with the MOFs classification adapted for drug delivery systems (DDSs) based on the
types of constituting metals and ligands. MOFs are appealing drug delivery vehicles because of
their substantial drug absorption capacity and slow-release processes, which protect and convey
sensitive drug molecules to target areas. Other guest materials have been incorporated into MOFs to
create MOF-composite materials, which have added additional functionalities such as externally
triggered drug release, improved pharmacokinetics, and diagnostic aids. Magnetic nanoparticles in
MOFs for MRI image contrast and polymer coatings that increase blood circulation time are examples
of synthetically adaptable MOF-composites. By including photosensitizers, which exert lethal
effects on cancer cells by converting tumour oxygen into reactive singlet oxygen (1O2), metalorganic
frameworks have been employed for photodynamic treatment (PDT) of malignancies
among a multitude of nanosized therapies. Importantly, a variety of representative MOF applications
are described from the perspectives of pharmaceutics, disease therapy, and advanced drug delivery
systems. However, because of their weak conductivity, selectivity, and lack of modification
sites, MOF materials' uses in electrochemical biosensing are restricted. MOF-based composites
provide excellent electrical conductivity and robust catalytic activity by adding functionalized nanoparticles
into MOF structures, which process benefits over single component MOFs.