Metal-organic frameworks for stimuli-responsive drug delivery

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are hybrid porous materials with unique properties like high surface area and tunable pores.
• MOFs show great promise in the biomedical field, particularly for drug delivery systems (DDSs).
• Existing literature lacks a comprehensive summary of MOF families and their stimuli-responsive drug release mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically classify MOF families and their representative members.
• To elucidate the drug release mechanisms in MOF-based stimuli-responsive DDSs.
• To discuss challenges and future directions for MOF-based DDSs.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and systematic classification of MOF structures.
• Analysis of drug release mechanisms triggered by various stimuli.
• Discussion of structure-property relationships in MOFs for DDS applications.

Main Results:

• Classification of MOF families and introduction of key members.
• Detailed interpretation of drug release mechanisms based on endogenous stimuli (pH, GSH, ATP, ions, glucose, enzymes, H2S) and exogenous stimuli (light, temperature, pressure).
• Identification of the relationship between MOF structure and their properties in DDS.

Conclusions:

• Understanding MOF structure-property relationships is crucial for DDS design.
• Stimuli-responsive drug release mechanisms offer sophisticated control over drug delivery.
• Further research into MOFs will advance the development of next-generation DDSs.