Controlling the actuation of therapeutic nanomaterials: enabling nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery

The implementation of biofunctionalized nanoparticles (NPs) as potential therapeutic materials has seen exponential growth in recent years due to their unique ability to overcome the constraints of current medicine. This has been largely driven by significant advances on a number of basic research fronts including high-quality NP synthesis, bioconjugation, cellular delivery and the controlled release or 'actuation' of NP-associated cargos. Cumulatively, these are the key enabling tools for the full realization of NP-mediated drug delivery. In this review, the authors' focus is on recent developments in methodologies for the controlled actuation of therapeutic NPs. The authors discuss the critical requirements for their integration into biological systems and highlight examples from the recent literature where controlled NP actuation has been successfully demonstrated. The current state of therapeutic NPs in the clinical setting is summarized and the article concludes with a brief perspective of how we can expect to see this emerging field develop in the coming years.